
Glass -1 



Book 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



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C^£^£^<t-^yS , 



MEMOIRS 



OP 



REV. CHARLES G. FINNEY. 



WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 



A. S. BARNES & COMPANY 

XEW YORK 




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LIBRARY of C 




Two Copies 


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Copyright, 
THE TRUSTEES OF OBERLIN COLLEGE. 

1876. 



Copyright Renewed, 1903. 



PREFACE 



rriHE author of the following narrative sufficiently ex- 
-"- plains its - origin and purpose, in the introductory 
pages. He left the manuscript at the disposal of his 
family, haying never decided, in his own mind, that it was 
desirable to publish it Many of his friends, becoming 
aware of its existence, have urged its publication ; and his 
children, yielding to the general demand, have presented 
the manuscript to Oberlin College for this purpose. 

In giving it to the public, it is manifestly necessary to 
present it essentially as we find it No liberties can be 
taken with it, to modify views or statements which may 
sometimes seem extreme or partial, or even to subdue a 
style, which, though rugged at timeb, is always dramatic and 
forcible. Few men have better earned the right to utter 
their own thoughts, in their own words. These thoughts and 
words are what the many friends of Mr. Finney will desire. 
The only changes that seemed allowable, were occasional 
omissions, to avoid unnecessary repetition, or too minute 
detail, or, at times, references that might seem too distinctly 
personal. The narrative is, in its very nature, personal, 
involving the experiences both of the author and of those 
with whom he had to do ; and to these personal experiences 



IT PREFACE. 

it, iii great part, owes its interest and its value. As the 
narrative presents the memories and heart-yearnings of a 
veteran pastor, with a passion for winning souls, it is hoped 
and believed that, in its personal references, it will not be 
regarded as having transcended the limits of Christian pro- 
priety. For the most part, the lapse of time sets aside all 
question. 

Here and there perhaps, the statements in the narrative 
may seem inadequate, as involving only a partial view of 
facts. It will be remembered that such partial views belong 
to all personal observation and opinion, and each one will 
naturally supply the correction that seems to be demanded. 

J EL F, 

Oss£LUi Colljegk, January, 187& 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER L 

BIRTH AND EAELY EDUCATION. 

Purpose of the Author — Birth and early circumstances — Want of 
religious privileges — Entering upon the study of law — First inter 
est in religion — Questionings on the subject of prayer . . . .Page 1 

CHAPTER IL 

CONVERSION TO CHBI3T. 

Decision to attend to religion — Spiritual conflict, and the triumph- 
Baptism of the Spirit — Sense of justification 19 

CHAPTER IIL 

BEGINNING OE HIS WORK. 

A retainer from the Lord Jesus Christ — Call to preach — Conversation 
with neighbors — Evening meeting — Revival in the village — Visit 

at his father's — Deacon M at the monthly concert — Conversion 

of Squire W . — Morning prayer-meeting — Great light — Fasting 

and prayer — Experience of the burden of prayer 24 

CHAPTER IV. 

HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION AND OTHER EXPERIENCES 
AT ADAMS. 

IWscussion on the atonement — Revival revived — Further discussion — 

Encouragement from Elder H . — Lectures on Universalism — 

Licensed by presbytery — Father Nash — Review of Mr. Gale's 
theology 43 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY. 

Labor at Evans' Mills — The people pledged — Experience of Mist 

G . — The railer's death — The false hope — The Universalis* 

subdued — Father Nash's transformation— Mr. D 's con- 
version Page 61 

CHAPTER VL 

REVIVAL AT EVANS* MILLS AND ITS RESULTS. 

The German church — Meeting for inquirers — Taught to read — Moving 
ecene — Habit of testifying in prayer-meeting — Style of preaching 
—Preaching at presbytery 73 

CHAPTER VIL 

REMARKS UPON MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

The judge's view — Criticisms of ministers — The preacher's aim — 

Danger in the schools — Advantages of extemporaneous preaching 

-Manner of preparation — Fac-simile of skeleton 85 

CHAPTER VIH. 

REVIVAL AT ANTWERP. 

Impression of the place — Prayer on Saturday — Plain preaching on 
Sabbath — Scene at Sodom — Preaching to the Universaliats — Ser- 
mon on election — Cure of insane woman 98 

CHAPTER IX. 

RETURN TO EVANS' MILLS. 

Author's marriages-Return to his work — Winter at Brownville— Con- 
version of Mrs. B . — Attempt to return for his wife — Stopped 

at Le Rayville — Premonition of a work at Gouverneur — The vain 
young woman converted „. . . . Ill 



CONTENTS. TO 

CHAPTER X. 

REVIVAL AT GOUVERtfEUR. 

Bide in the rain— Discussion with Dr. S .—Opposition of young 

men — Father Nash's announcement — Conversion of Mr. S . — 

Opposition of Baptists — Discussion of Baptism — Aunt Lucy's 
relief— Conversion of Mr. M Page 119 

CHAPTER XL 

REVIVAL AT DE KALB. 

Presbyterians " falling,"— Visit of Mr. F .—The Catholic tailor- 
Elder S 's new light — Effect upon the meeting— Going to 

Synod — Meeting with Mr. Gale — Spirit of prayer 136 

CHAPTER XII. 

EEVTVAL AT WESTEBN. 

The Western revivals — Afternoon prayer-meeting — Praying of Mrs. 
H . — Conversion of the B children — The home of a con- 
victed daughter — The hay-loft — Adaptation of religious labor — 
Mr. Gale's new views and experience 144 

CHAPTER XIIL 

REVIVAL AT ROME. 

Remarkable inquiry meeting — Great interest — Little H and hei 

father — Death of a reviler — Conversion of Mr. H . — Visit of 

Sheriff B . — The spirit of prayer — Conversion of the officer's 

wife— Conversion of Mrs. G 158 

CHAPTER XIV. 

BEVIVAL AT UTIOA. 

Abundant prayer — Conversion of Sheriff B . — The Lowville mer- 
chant — Beginning of opposition — Mr. Weeks' doctrines — Sudden 

death of the minister — Conversion of Miss F T . — Scene 

in the factory — Conversion of T D. Weld— False teaching 175 



aii contents. 



CHAPTER XV. 

REVIVAL AT AUBURN IN 182«. 

further opposition — Victory in prayer — Dr. S 's new baptism — Con* 

version of Mr. H . — Division of the congregation — Dr. Lansing's 

painful experience — Public confession Page 192 

CHAPTER XVI. 

REVIVAL AT TROY, AND AT NEW LEBANON. 

Visit to Dr. Nettleton — Influence of the opposition — Dr. Beman before 

presbytery — Conversion of Judge C 's father — Conversion of 

Miss S . — The work, at New Lebanon — Conversion of Dr. 

W , of Mr. T , and of John T. Avery — Committee of presby 

tery — New Lebanon Convention — Notice of Dr. Beecher'e Biog- 
raphy — Remarks on Revivals 202 

CHAPTER XVIL 

REVIVAL IN STEPHENTOWN. 

Anxiety of Miss S . — Election evening — Family of Judge P , 

and of Mr. M . — Death of Mr. B . — Influence of Miss 

S 226 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

REVIVALS AT WILMINGTON AND PHILADELPHIA. 

Mr Gilbert — New- School preaching and its effect — Beginning in Phil- 
adelphia — Theology at Philadelphia — Hopkinsianism — Conver- 
sion of a desperate man — Of a despairing young woman — Fondness 
for dress — Interest among the lumbermen — Mr. Patterson 234 

CHAPTER XIX. 

REVIVAL AT READING, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Unsound teaching — Arrangement for balls — Inquiry meeting — Death 

of Dr. Greer — Conviction of Mr. B . — False counsel to inquirers 

— Conversion of Mr. O'B . — His death — Preaching to the edi- 
tors — Labor at Lancaster — Conversion of Elder K . — Fatal 

delay 25« 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER XX 

REVIVAL IN COLUMBIA, AND IN NEW YORK OITT. 

Account of Mr. H . — Reorganization of his church — Invitation to 

New York — Anson G. Phelps — Diligence of a young woman in 
restitution — Conversion of Lewis Tappan — The first Free Presby- 
terian church Pages 273 

CHAPTER XXL 

REVIVAL IN ROCHESTER, 1880. 

Selection of a field — Adjustment of differences — Conversion of Mrs. 

M . — " The Anxious Seat " — Panic in church — Work in the 

High School — Conversion of the merchant and his wife — Con- 
version of Mr. P . — The burden of prayer — Effect upon the 

morals of the city — Effect abroad 284 

CHAPTER XXII. 

REVIVALS IN AUBURN, BUFFALO, PROVIDENCE, AND 
BOSTON. 

Leaving Rochester — Rest at Auburn, and remarkable invitation — 
Abel Clary — Six weeks' labor — A month in Buffalo — Conversion 

of Mr. H . — Three weeks in Providence — Conversion of Miss 

A . — Invitation to Boston — Sensitiveness of the people — Giv- 
ing up all to God — Orthodoxy questioned — Proposal from New 
York 302 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

LABORS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1832, AND ONWARD. 

Chatham street theatre — Installation — The Cholera — The revival — 

Diligence of the membership — Conversion of Mr H . — The 

free Presbyterian churches — Organization of a Congregational 
church — Broadway Tabernacle — Voyage to the Mediterranean — 
A day of prayer at sea — The New York Evangelist — Excite- 
ment on slavery — Revival Lectures — Invitation to Oberlin — 
Decision , 320 



Jt CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

EARLY LABORS IN OBERLIN. 

The tent— Financial failure — Hostility of the surrounding region- 
Embassy to England — Providential supply — Lectures to Christiana 
in New York — Relations to Western Reserve College — Theo 
logical prejudice — Popular idea of Oberlin — Spiritual progress 
at home Page 336 

CHAPTER XXV. 

LABORS IN BOSTON AND PROVIDENCE. 

General excitement upon slavery — Marlborough chapel — A few weeks 
preaching in Boston — Call to Providence — Two months, labor 
there— Interest of Rev. Dr. C 352 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THB REVIVAL IN ROCHESTER IN 184*. 

Rest in Rochester, and invitation to preach — Lawyers' request for a 

course of Lectures — Judge G 's conversion — Pastor of St. 

Luke's — The quit-claim deed — Doctrines preached — Interest in 
lawyers — Chronic scepticism — Mr. W the priest 868 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

ANOTHER WINTER IN BOSTON. 

Becond-Adventism — The church in Marlborough Chapel — A false pro- 
phet — A chapter of personal experience — A new consecration — 
Experiences in connection with the death of Mrs. F . — Experi- 
ences not appreciated — Need in Boston 870 

CHAPTER XXVLIL 

FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND. 

Mr Potto Brown and his religious enterprises — Invitation to England 
— Labors in Houghton — Invitation to Birmingham — Interview at 
Mr. James' — Close Communion — Theology and Dr. Redford — In- 
teresting letter — Preaching at Worcester — Invitation to London 
-Dr. Campbell and the Tabernacle 386 



CONTENTS. H 

CHAPTER XXIX 

LABORS IN THE TABERNACLE, MOORFIELDS, LONDON. 

First inquiry meeting — Large attendance — Visit at the British school 
room —Definite aim in preaching — The borrowed sermon — Interest 
in Episcopal churches — A tea-meeting for poor women — Visit to 
France — Embarking for home Page 402 

CHAPTER XXX. 

LABORS IN HARTFORD AND IN SYRACUSE. 

Brief labor in New York — Invitation to Hartford — Difficulty of co5p- 
eration among the pastors, adjusted — Timidity in regard to 
measures — Prayer-meetings among converts — Organized effort — 
The churches in Syracuse — Cooperation of Christians — Interest- 
ing communion — Mrs. C 's new baptism — Ladies' meetings — 

** Taking up the Cross " — Mother Austin's faith 415 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

LABORS IN WESTERN AND IN ROME 1854-5. 

Case of crime — Confession and restitution — Conversion of the school- 
teacher— Preaching at Rome— Distraction in the church 438 

CHAPTER XXXLL 

REVIVAL IN ROCHESTER IN 1855. 

Piessing invitation — Preaching to the lawyers — Prevailing interest — 
The University — Zeal of the ladies — Ingenuous spirit — Restric- 
tions in New England 485 

CHAPTER XXXHL 

REVIVALS IN BOSTON IN 1856-57-58. 

The pastor's renewal — Divided feeling — Establishment of prayer-meet- 
ings — The South— Conversion of Mrs. M . . ........ 441 



iii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXTV. 

SECOND VISIT TO ENGLAND. 

Labors at St. Ives — Borough Koaci ctiapel — Churck distraction and 
regeneration— Theological apprehensions— Reasoning in the pul- 
pit—Labors at Huntington— Family of Dr. F ■ Page 448 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 

Preaching in Edinburgh — TheE. U. Church — The ladies' prayer-meet- 
ing — Preaching in Aberdeen — Circumscribing prejudice — Going to 
Bolton, England — First evening at Bolton — The week of prayer — 
Co-operation of denominations — Canvassing the city — A more 

quiet manner — Work in Mr. B 's mill — Cases of restitution — 

Conversion of the miserly mill-owner — Labors in Manchester 
—Want of co-operation — Return home 456 

CHAPTER XXXVL 

WORK AT HOME. 

Arrangements for labor — General movement — Failing health — Divert* 
ing influences — The time for work — Improved arrangements — 
Solemn Sabbath — Conclusion 471 



MEI0IE8 



OF 



CHARLES G.FINNEY. 



OHAPTEB I. 

BIBTH AND EARLY EDUCATION. 

IT has pleased God in some measure to connect my nam6 
and labors with an extensive movement of the church 
of Christ, regarded by some as a new era in its progress, 
especially in relation to revivals of religion. As this move- 
ment involved, to a considerable extent, the development 
of views of Christian doctrine which had not been common, 
and was brought about by changes in the mean3 of carrying 
forward the work of evangelization, it was very natural that 
some misapprehension should prevail in regard to these 
modified statements of doctrine, and the use of these meas- 
ures ; and consequently that, to some extent, even good men 
should call in question the wisdom of these measures and 
the soundness of these theological statements ; and that un- 
godly men should be irritated, and for a time should stren- 
uously oppose these great movements. 

I have spoken of myself as connected with these move- 
ments ; but only as one of the many ministers and other 
servants of Christ, who have shared prominently in promot- 
ing them. I am aware that by a certain portion of the 
church I have been considered an innovator, both in regard 
to doctrine and measures ; and that many have looked upon 



2 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES (i. FINtfEl. 

me as rather prominent, especially in assailing some of the 
old forms of theological thought and expression, and in 
stating the doctrines of the Gospel in many respects in new 
language. 

I have been particularly importuned, for a number of 
years, by the friends of those revivals with which my name 
and labors have been connected, to write a history of them. 
As so much misapprehension has prevailed respecting them, 
it is thought that the truth of history demands a statement 
from myself of the doctrines that were preached, so far as I 
was concerned ; of the measures used, and of the results of 
preaching those doctrines and the use of those measures. 

My mind seems instinctively to recoil from saying so 
much of myself as I shall be obliged to do, if I speak hon- 
estly of those revivals and of my relation to them. For this 
reason I have declined, up to this time, to undertake such a 
work. Of late the trustees of Oberlin College have laid the 
matter before me, and urged me to undertake it. They, to- 
gether with numerous other friends in this country and in 
England, have urged that it was due to the cause of Christ, 
that a better understanding should exist in the church than 
has hitherto existed, in regard especially to the revivals that 
occurred in central New York and elsewhere, from 1821 and 
onward for several years, because those revivals have been 
most misrepresented and opposed. 

I approach the subject, I must say, with reluctance, for 
many reasons. I have kept no diary, and consequently 
must depend on my memory. It is true, that my memory 
is naturally very tenacious, and the events that I have wit- 
nessed in revivals of religion have made a very deep impres- 
Bion on my mind ; and I remember, with great distinctness, 
many more than I shall have time to communicate. Every 
one who has witnessed powerful revivals of religion is aware 
that many cases of conviction and conversion are daily 
occurring, of the greatest interest to the people in the midst 
of whom they occur. Where all the facts and circumstances 



BIRTH AND EARLY BDUCATIOH. 3 

are known, a thrilling effect is often produced ; and such 
cases are frequently so numerous that if all the highly inter- 
esting facts of even one extended revival, in a single locality, 
should be narrated, it would fill a large volume. 

I do not propose to pursue this course in what I am 
about to write. I shall only sketch such an outline as will, 
upon the whole, give a tolerably clear idea of the type 
which these revivals took on ; and shall only relate a few 
of the particular instances of conversion which occurred in 
different places. 

I shall also endeavor to give such an account of the doc- 
trines which were preached, and of the measures which 
were used, and shall mention such facts, in general, as will 
enable the church hereafter, partially at least, to estimate 
the power and purity of those great works of God. 

But I hesitate to write a narrative of those revivals, 
because I have often been surprised to find how much my 
own remembrance of facts differs from the recollection of 
other persons who were in the midst of those scenes. Of 
course I must state the facts as I remember them. A great 
many of those events have been often referred to by myself 
in preaching, as illustrative of the truths that I was present- 
ing to the people. I have been so often reminded of them, 
and have so often referred to them in all the years of my 
ministry, that I cannot but have strong confidence that I 
remember them substantially as they occurred. If I shall 
in any case misstate the facts, or if in any case my recollec- 
tions shall differ widely from those of others, I trust that the 
church will believe that my statements are in entire accord- 
ance with my present remembrance of those facts. I am 
now (1867- 68) seventy -five years old. Of course, I remember 
things that transpired many years ago more definitely than 
those of recent occurrence. In regard to the doctrines 
preached, so far as I was concerned, and the means used to 
promote the revivals, I think I cannot be mistaken. 

To give any intelligible account of the part which I was 



4 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY 

called to act in those scenes, it is necessary that I should 
give a little history of the manner in which I came to adopt 
the doctrinal views which I have long held and preached, 
and which have been regarded by many persons as ob 
jectionable. 

I must commence by giving a very brief account of my 
birth, and early circumstances and education, my conversion 
to Christ, my study of theology, and my entering upon the 
work of the ministry. I am not about to write an autobio- 
graphy, let it be remembered ; and shall enter no farther 
into a relation of the events of my own private life than 
shall seem necessary to give an intelligible account of the 
manner in which I was led, in relation to these great move- 
ments of the church. 

I was born in Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, 
August 29, 1792. When I was about two years old, my father 
removed to Oneida county, New York, which was, at that 
time, to a great extent, a wilderness. No religious privileges 
were enjoyed by the people. Very few religious books were 
to be had. The new settlers, being mostly from New England, 
almost immediately established common schools ; but they 
had among them very little intelligent preaching of the 
Gospel. I enjoyed the privileges of a common school, sum- 
mer and winter, until I was fifteen or sixteen years old, I 
believe ; and advanced so far as to be supposed capable of 
teaching a common school myself, as common schools were 
then conducted. 

My parents were neither of them professors of religion, 
and, I believe, among our neighbors there were very few 
eligious people. I seldom heard a sermon, unless it was an 
occasional one from some travelling minister, or some miser- 
able holding forth of an ignorant preacher who would some- 
times be found in that country. I recollect very well that 
the ignorance of the preachers that I heard was such, that 
the people would return from meeting and spend a consider 
able time in irrepressible laughter at the strange mistaken 



BIETH AND EAELY EDUCATION. 

which had been made and the absurdities which had been 
advanced. 

In the neighborhood of my fathers residence we had 
just erected a meeting-house and settled a minister, when 
my father was induced to remove again into the wilderness 
Bkirting the southern shore of Lake Ontario, a little south 
of Sackett's Harbor. Here again I lived for several years, 
enjoying no better religious privileges than I had in Oneida 
cou^y. 

•Wthen about twenty years old I returned to Connecticut, 
and from thence went to New Jersey, near New York city, 
and engaged in teaching. I taught and studied as best I 
could ; and twice returned to New England and attended a 
high school for a season. While attending the high school 
I meditated going to Yale College. My preceptor was a 
graduate of Yale, but he advised me not to go. He said it 
would be a loss of time, as I could easily accomplish the 
whole curriculum of study pursued at that institution, in 
two .years ; whereas it would cost me four years to graduate. 
He presented such considerations as prevailed with me, and 
as it resulted, I failed to pursue my school education any 
farther at that time. However, afterward I acquired some 
knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. But I was never 
a classical scholar, and never possessed so much knowledge 
of the ancient languages as to think myself capable of inde- 
pendently criticising our English translation of the Bible, 

The teacher to whom I have referred, wished me to join 
him in conducting an academy in one of the Southern States. 
I was inclined to accept his proposal, with the design of pur- 
suing and completing my studies under his instruction. But 
when I informed my parents, whom I had not seen for four 
years, of my contemplated movement south, they both came 
immediately after me, and prevailed on me to go home with 
them to Jefferson county, New York. After making them a 
visit, I concluded to enter, as a student, the law office of 
Squire W , at Adams, in that county. This was in 1818. 



6 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FltfSTEY. 

Up to this time I had never enjoyed what might be 
called religious privileges. I had never lived in a praying 
community, except during the periods when I was attending 
the high school in New England ; and the religion in that 
place was of a type not at all calculated to arrest my atten- 
tion. The preaching was by an aged clergyman, an excellent 
man, and greatly beloved and venerated by his people ; but 
he read his sermons in a manner that left no impression 
whatever on my mind. He had a monotonous, humdrum 
way of reading what he had probably written many years 
before. 

To give some idea of his preaching, let me say that his 
manuscript sermons were just large enough to put into a 
small Bible. I sat in the gallery, and observed that he 
placed his manuscript in the middle of his Bible, and in- 
serted his fingers at the places where were to be found the 
passages of Scripture to be quoted in the reading of his ser- 
mon. This made it necessary to hold his Bible in both 
hands, and rendered all gesticulation with his hands impossi- 
ble. As he proceeded he would read the passages of Scrip 
ture where his fingers were inserted, and thus liberate one 
finger after another until the fingers of both hands were read 
out of their places. When his fingers were all read out, he 
was near the close of the sermon. His reading was altogether 
unimpassioned and monotonous ; and although the people 
attended very closely and reverentially to his reading, yet, 1 
must confess, it was to me not much like preaching. 

When we retired from meeting, I often heard the people 
speak well of his sermons ; and sometimes they woil d 
wonder whether he had intended any allusion, in what he 
said, to what was occurring among them. It seemed to be 
always a matter of curiosity to know what he was aiming at, 
especially if there was anything more in his sermon than a 
dry discussion of doctrine. And this was really quite as 
good preaching as I had ever listened to in any place. But 
any one can judge whether such preaching was calculated 



BIRTH AHD EARLY EDUCATION. 7 

to instruct or interest a young man who neither knew nor 
cared anything about religion. 

When I was teaching school in New Jersey, the preach- 
ing in the neighborhood was chiefly in German. I do not 
think I heard half a dozen sermons in English during my 
whole stay in New Jersey, which was about three years. 

Thus when I went to Adams to study law, I was almost 
as ignorant of religion as a heathen. I had been brougnt 
up mostly in the woods. I had very little regard to the Sab- 
bath, and had no definite knowledge of religious truth. 

At Adams, for the first time, I sat statedly, for a length of 
time, under an educated ministry. Rev. George W. Gale, from 
Princeton, New Jersey, became, soon after I went there, pastor 
of the Presbyterian Church in that place. His preaching was 
of the old school type ; that is, it was thoroughly Calyinistic ; 
and whenever he came out with the doctrines, which he seldom 
did, he would preach what has been called hyper-calvinism. 
He was, of course, regarded as highly orthodox ; but I was 
not able to gain very much instruction from his preaching. 
As I sometimes told him, he seemed to me to begin in the mid- 
dle of his discourse, and to assume many things which to my 
mind needed to be proved. He seemed to take it for granted 
that his hearers were theologians, and therefore that he 
might assume all the great and fundamental doctrines of 
the Gospel. But I must say that I was rather perplexed 
than edified by his preaching. 

I had never, until this time, lived where I could attend 
a stated prayer meeting. As one was held by the church 
near our office every week, I used to attend and listen to 
the prayers, as often as I could be excused from business 
at that hour. 

In studying elementary law, I found the old authors fre- 
quently quoting the Scriptures, and referring especially to 
the Mosaic Institutes, as authority for many of the great 
principles of common law. This excited my curiosity so 
much that I went and purchased a Bible, the first I had 



8 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

ever owned ; and whenever I found a reference by the law 
authors to the Bible, I turned to the passage and consulted 
it in its connection. This soon led to my taking a new 
interest in the Bible, and I read and meditated on it much 
more than I had ever done before in my life. However, 
much of it I did not understand. 

Mr. Gale was in the habit of dropping in at our office 
frequently, and seemed anxious to know what impression 
his sermons had made on my mind. I used to converse 
with him freely ; and I now think that I sometimes criticised 
his sermons unmercifully. I raised such objections against 
his positions as forced themselves upon my attention. 

In conversing with him and asking him questions, I per- 
ceived that his own mind was, as I thought, mystified ; and 
that he did not accurately define to himself what he, meant 
by many of the important terms that he used. Indeed I 
found it impossible to attach any meaning to many of the 
terms which he used with great formality and frequency. 
What did he mean by repentance ? Was it a mero ieeling 
of sorrow for sin ? Was it altogether a passive state of 
mind, or did it involve a voluntary element ? If it was a 
change of mind, in what respect was it a change of mind ? 
What did he mean by the term regeneration ? What did 
such language mean when applied to a spiritual change ? 
What did he mean by faith ? Was it merely an intellectual 
state ? Was it merely a conviction, or persuasion, that the 
things stated in the Gospel were true ? What did he mean 
by sanctification ? Did it involve any physical Change in 
the subject, or any physical influence on the part of God ? 
I could not tell, nor did he seem to me to know himself, in 
what sense he used these and similar terms. 

We had a great many interesting conversations ; but 
they seemed rather to stimulate my own mind to inquiry, 
than to satisfy me in respect to the truth. 

But as I read my Bible and attended the prayer meet- 
ings, heard Mr. Gale preach, and conversed with him, with 



BIETH AND EABLY EDUCATION. 9 

the elders of the church, and with others from time to time, 
I became very restless. A little consideration convinced me 
that I was by no means in a state of mind to go to heaven if 
I should die. It seemed to me that there must be some- 
thing in religion that was of infinite importance; and it 
was soon settled with me, that if the soul was immortal 2 
needed a great change in my inward state to be prepared 
for happiness in heaven. But still my mind was not made 
up as to the truth or falsehood of the Gospel and of the 
Christian religion. The question, however, was of too 
much importance to allow me to rest in any uncertainty on 
the subject. 

I was particularly struck with the fact that the prayers 
that I had listened to, from week to week, were not, that 
I could see, answered. Indeed, I understood from their 
utterances in prayer, and from other remarks in their meet- 
ings, that those who offered them did not regard them as 
answered. 

When I read my Bible I learned what Christ had said in 
regard to prayer, and answers to prayer. He had said, 
" Ask, and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock 
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh 
receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that 
knocketh it shall be opened." I read also what Christ 
affirms, that God is more willing to give his Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him, than earthly parents are to give good 
gifts to their children. I heard them pray continually for 
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and as often confess that 
they did not receive what they asked for. 

They exhorted each other to wake up and be engaged, 
and to pray earnestly for a revival of religion, asserting that 
if they did their duty, prayed for the outpouring of the 
Spirit, and were in earnest, that the Spirit of God would be 
poured out, that they would have a revival of religion, and 
that the impenitent would be converted. But in theii 
prayer and conference meetings they would cc ntinually con- 
3* 



10 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. PIIOTE! . 

fess, substantially, that they were making no progress in 
securing a revival of religion. 

This inconsistency, the fact that they prayed so much 
and were not answered, was a sad stumbling-block to me. 
I knew not what to make of it. It was a question in my 
mind whether I was to understand that these persons were 
not truly Christians, and therefore did not prevail with 
God ; or did I misunderstand the promises and teachings of 
the Bible on this subject, or was I to conclude that the 
Bible was not true ? Here was something inexplicable to 
me ; and it seemed, at one time, that it would almost drive 
me into scepticism. It seemed to me that the teachings of 
the Bible did not at all accord with the facts which were 
before my eyes. 

On one occasion, when I was in one of the prayer-meet- 
ings, I was asked if I did not desire that they should pray 
for me. I told them, no ; because I did not see that God 
answered their prayers. I said, "I suppose I need to be 
prayed for, for I am conscious that I am a sinner ; but I do 
not see that it will do any good for you to pray for me ; for 
you are continually asking, but -you do not receive. You 
have been praying for a revival of religion ever since I have 
been in Adams, and yet you have it not. You have been 
praying for the Hoi}- Spirit to descend upon yourselves, and 
yet complaining of your leanness." I recollect having used 
this expression at that time : " You have prayed enough 
since I have attended these meetings to have prayed the 
devil out of Adams, if there is any virtue in your prayers. 
But here you are praying on, and complaining still." I was 
quite in earnest in what I said, and not a little irritable, I 
think, in consequence of my being brought so continually 
face to face with religious truth ; which was a new state of 
things to me. 

But on farther reading of my Bible, it struck me that the 
reason why their prayers were not answered, was because they 
did not comply with the revealed conditions upon which 



BIKTH AND EAELY EDUCATION. 11 

God had promised to answer prayer; that they did not 
pray in faith, in the sense of expecting God to give them the 
things that they asked for. 

This thought, for some time, lay in my mind as a con- 
fused questioning, rather than in any definite form that 
could be stated in words. However, this relieved me, so far 
as queries about the truth of the Gospel were concerned , 
and after struggling in that way for some two or three 
years, my mind became quite settled that whatever mystifi- 
cation there might be either in my own or in my pastor's 
mind, or in the mind of the church, the Bible was, never- 
theless, the true word of God. 

This being settled, I was brought face to face with the 
question whether I would accept Christ as presented in the 
Gospel, or pursue a worldly course of life. At this period, 
my mind, as I have since known, was so much impressed by 
the Holy Spirit, that I could not long leave this question 
unsettled ; nor could I long hesitate between the two courses 
of life presented to 



CHAPTER IL 

CONVERSION TO CHBIST. 

ON a Sabbath evening in the antumn of 1821, I made 
up my mind that I would settle the question of my 
soul's salvation at once, that if it were possible I would 
make my peace with God. But as I was very busy in the 
affairs of the office, I knew that without great firmness of 
purpose, I should never effectually attend to the subject. I 
therefore, then and there resolved, as far as possible, to avoid 
all business, and everything that would divert my attention, 
and to give myself wholly to the work of securing the salvation 
of my soul. I carried this resolution into execution as sternly 
and thoroughly as I could. I was, however, obliged to be a 
good deal in the office. But as the providence of God would 
have it, I was not much occupied either on Monday or Tues- 
day ; and had opportunity to read my Bible and engage in 
prayer most of the time. 

But I was very proud without knowing it. I had sup 
posed that I had not much regard for the opinions of others, 
whether they thought this or that in regard to myself ; and 
1 had in fact been quite singular in attending prayer meet- 
ings, and in the degree of attention that I had paid to relig- 
ion, while in Adams. In this respect I had been so singular 
as to lead the church at times to think that I must be an 
anxious inquirer. But I found, when I came to face the 
question, that I was very unwilling to have any one know 
that I was seeking the salvation of my soul. When I prayed 
I would only whisper my prayer, after having stopped the 
key-hole to the door, lest some one should discover that 1 
Was engaged in praver. Before that time I had my Biblo 



OOJSTEBSION TO CHEISX. 13 

lying on the table with the law-books ; and it never had 
occurred to me to be ashamed of being f c and reading it, any 
more than I should be ashamed of being found reading any of 
my other books. 

But after I had addressed myself in earnest to the subject 
of my own salvation, I kept my Bible, as much as I could, out 
of sight. If I was reading it when anybody came in, I would 
throw my law-books upon it, to create the impression that I 
had not had it in my hand. Instead of being outspoken 
and willing to talk with anybody and everybody on the sub- 
ject as before, I found myself unwilling to converse with 
anybody. I did not want to see my minister, because I did 
not want to let him know how I felt, and I had no confidence 
that he would understand my case, and give me the direction 
that I needed. For the same reasons I avoided conversation 
with the elders of the church, or with any of the Christian 
people. I was ashamed to let them know how I felt, on the 
one hand ; and on the other, I was afraid they would mis- 
direct me. I felt myself shut up to the Bible. 

During Monday and Tuesday my convictions increased ; 
but still it seemed as if my heart grew harder. I could not 
shed a tear ; I could not pray. I had no opportunity to 
pray above my breath ; and frequently I felt, that if I could 
be alone where I could use my voice and let myself out, I 
should find relief in prayer. I was shy, and avoided, as 
much as I could, speaking to anybody on any subject. I 
endeavored, however, to do this in a way that would excite 
no suspicion, in any mind, that I was seeking the salvation of 
my soul. m 

Tuesday night I had become very nervous ; and in the 
night a strange feeling came over me as if I was about to 
die. I knew that if I did I should sink down to hell ; but 
I quieted myself as best I could until morning. 

At an early hour I started for the office. But just be- 
fore I arrived at the office, something seemed to confront 
me with questions like these : indeed, it seemed as if the 



H MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

inquiry was within myself, as if an inward voice said to 
me, " "What are you waiting for ? Did you not promise to 
give your heart to God ? And what are you trying to do ? 
Are you endeavoring to work out a righteousness of your 
own?" 

Just at this point tht whole question of Gospel salvation 
opened to my mind in a manner most marvellous to me at 
the time. I think I then saw, as clearly as I ever have in 
my life, the reality and fulness of the atonement of Christ. 
I saw that his work was a finished work ; and that instead 
of having, or needing, any righteousness of my own to re- 
commend me to God, I had to submit myself to the right- 
eousness of God through Christ. Gospel salvation seemed to 
me to be an offer of something to be accepted ; and that it 
was full and complete ; and that all that was necessary on 
my part, was to get my own consent to give up my sins, and 
accept Christ. Salvation, it seemed to me, instead of ^eing 
a thing to be wrought out, by my own works, was a thing 
to be found entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ, who pre- 
sented himself before me as my God and my Saviour. 

Without being distinctly aware of it, I had stopped in 
the street right where the inward voice seemed to arrest me. 
How long I remained in that position I cannot say. But 
after this distinct revelation had stood for some little time 
before my mind, the question seemed to be put, " Will you 
accept it now, to-day ? ■" I replied, " Yes ; I will accept it 
to-day, or I will die in the attempt" 

North of the village, and over a hill, lay a piece of woodsy 
in which I was in the almost daily habit of walking, more 
or less, when it was pleasant weather. It was now October, 
and the time was past for my frequent walks there. Never- 
theless, instead of going to the office, I turned and bent my 
course toward the woods, feeling that I must be alone, and 
away from all human eyes and ears, so that I could pour 
out my prayer to God. 

But still my pride must show itself. As I went ovei 



COHTEESION TO CHEIST. 15 

the hill, it occurred to me that some one might see 
me and suppose that I was going away to pray. Yet 
probably there was not a person on earth that would 
have suspected such a thing, had he seen me going. But so 
great was my pride, and so much was I possessed with the 
fear of man, that I recollect that I skulked along under the 
fence, till I got so far out of sight that no one from the vil- 
lage could see me. I then penetrated into the woods, I 
should think, a quarter of a mile, went over on the other 
side of the hill, and found a place where some large trees 
had fallen across each other, leaving an open place between. 
There I saw I could make a kind of closet. I crept into 
this place and knelt down for prayer. As I turned to go 
up into the woods, I recollect to have said, ' ' I will give my 
heart to God, or I never will come down from there." I 
recollect repeating this as I went up — " I will give my heart 
to God before I ever come down again." 

But when I attempted to pray I found that my heart 
would not pray. I had supposed that if I could only be 
where I could speak aloud, without being overheard, I could 
pray freely. But lo ! when I came to try, I was dumb ; 
that is, I had nothing to say to God ; or at least I could say 
but a few words, and those without heart. In attempting 
to pray I would hear a rustling in the leaves, as I thought, 
and would stop and look up to see if somebody were not 
coming. This I did several times. 

Finally I found myself verging fast to despair. I 
said to myself, " I cannot pray. My heart is dead to God, 
and will not pray." I then reproached myself for having 
promised to give my heart to God before I left the woods. 
When I came to try, I found I could not give my heart to 
God. My inward soul hung back, and there was no going 
out of my heart to God. I began to feel deeply that it was 
too late ; that it must be that I was given up of God and was 
past hope. 

The thought was pressing me of the rashness of m$ 



16 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

promise, that I would give my heart to God that day or die 
in the attempt. It seemed to me as if that was binding 
upon my soul ; and yet I was going to break my vow, A 
great sinking and discouragement came over me, and I felt 
almost too weak to stand upon my knees. 

Just at this moment I again thought I heard some one 
approach me, and I opened my eyes to see whether it were 
so. But right there the revelation of my pride of heart, as 
the great difficulty that stood in the way, was distinctly 
shown to me. An overwhelming sense of my wickedness in 
being ashamed to have a human being see me on my knees 
before God, took such powerful possession of me, that I cried 
at the top of my voice, and exclaimed that I would not leave 
that place if all the men on earth and all the devils in hell 
surrounded me. " What ! " I said, " such a degraded sin- 
ner as I am, on my knees confessing my sins to the great and 
holy God ; and ashamed to have any human being, and a 
sinner like myself, find me on my knees endeavoring to make 
my peace with my offended God ! " The sin appeared 
awful, infinite. It broke me down before the Lord. 

Just at that point this passage of Scripture seemed to 
drop into my mind with a flood of light : " Then shall ye 
go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. Then 
shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me 
with all your heart." I instantly seized hold of this with 
my heart. I had intellectually believed the Bible before ; 
but never had the truth been in my mind that faith was a 
voluntary trust instead of an intellectual state. I was as 
conscious as I was of my existence, of trusting at that 
moment in God's veracity. Somehow I knew that that was 
* passage of Scripture, though I do not think I had ever 
read it. I knew that it was God's word, and God's voice, 
as it were, that spoke to me. I cried to Him, " Lord, I take 
thee at thy word. Now thou knowest that I do search for 
thee with all my heart, and that I have come here to pi ay 
to thee ; and thou hast promised to hear me. " 



COXYERSIOX TO CHKIST. 17 

Tliat seemed to settle the question that 1 could then, 
that day, perform my vow. The Spirit seemed to lay stresa 
upon that idea in the text, " When you search for me with 
all your heart." The question of when, that is of the present 
time, seemed to fall heavily into my heart. I told the Lord 
that I should take him at his word ; that he could not lie , 
and that therefore I was sure that he heard my prayer, and 
that he would be found of me. 

He then gave me many other promises, both from the Old 
and the New Testament, especially some most precious 
promises respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. I never can, in 
words, make any human being understand how precious 
and true those promises appeared to me. I took them one 
after the other as infallible truth, the assertions of God who 
could not lie. They did not seem so much to fall into my 
intellect as into my heart, to be put within the grasp of the 
voluntary powers of my mind ; and I seized hold of them, 
appropriated them, and fastened upon them with the grasp 
of a drowning man. 

I continued thus to pray, and to receive and appropriate 
promises for a long time, I know not how long. I prayed till 
my mind became so full that, before I was aware of it, I was 
on my feet and tripping up the ascent toward the road. 
The question of my baing converted, had not so much as 
arisen to my thought ; but as I went up, brushing through 
the leaves and bushes, I recollect saying with great emphasis, 
"If I am ever converted, I will preach the Gospel." 

I soon reached the road that led to the village, and began 
to reflect upon what had passed ; and I found that my mind 
had become most wonderfully quiet and peaceful. I said to 
myself. " What is this ? I must have grieved the Holy 
Ghost entirely away. I have lost all my conviction. I have 
not a particle of concern about my soul ; and it must be 
that the Spirit has left me." "Why!" thought I, "I 
never was so far from being concerned about my own salva- 
tion in mv life." 



18 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FlffOTSY. 

Then I remembered what I had said to God while T was on 
my knees — that I had said I would take him at his word ; 
and indeed I recollected a good many things that I had said, 
and concluded that it was no wonder that the Spirit had left 
me ; that for such a sinner as I was to take hold of God's 
word in that way, was presumption if not blasphemy. I 
concluded that in my excitement I had grieved the Holy 
Spirit, and perhaps committed the unpardonable sin. 

I walked quietly toward the village ; and so perfectly 
quiet was my mind that it seemed as if all nature listened. 
It was on the 10th of October, and a very pleasant day. I 
had gone into the woods immediately after an early break- 
fast ; and when I returned to the village I found it was din- 
ner time. Yet I had been wholly unconscious of the time 
that had passed ; it appeared to me that I had been gone 
from the village but a short time. 

But how was I to account for the quiet of my mind ? 1 
tried to recall my convictions, to get back again the load of 
sin under which I had been laboring. But all sense of sin, 
all consciousness of present sin or guilt, had departed from 
me. I said to myself, " What is this, that I cannot arouse 
any sense of guilt in my soul, as great a sinner as I am ? " I 
tried in vain to make myself anxious about my present state. 
I was so quiet and peaceful that I tried to feel concerned 
about that, lest it should be a result of my having grieved 
the Spirit away. But take any view of it I would, I could 
not be anxious at all about my soul, and about my spiritual 
state. The repose of my mind was unspeakably great. I 
never can describe it in words. The thought of God was 
sweet to my mind, and the most profound spiritual tran- 
quillity had taken full possession of me. This was a great 
mystery ; but it did not distress or perplex me. 

I went to my dinner, and found I had no appetite to eat. I 

then went to the office, and found that Squire W had gone 

to dinner. I took down my bass-viol, and, as I was iccustomed 
to do, began to play and sing some pieces of sacred music. 



CONVERSION TO CHKIST. 19 

But as soon as I began to sing those sacred words, I began tc 
weep. It seemed as if my heart was all liquid ; and my 
feelings were in such a state that I could not hear my own 
voice in singing without causing my sensibility to overflow. 
I wondered at this, and tried to suppress my tears, but 
could not. After trying in vain to suppress my tears, I put 
up my instrument and stopped singing. 

After dinner we were engaged in removing our books 
and furniture to another office. We were very busy in this, 
and had but little conversation all the afternoon. My mind, 
however, remained in that profoundly tranquil state. There 
was a great sweetness and tenderness in my thoughts and 
feelings. Everything appeared to be going right, and 
nothing seemed to ruffle or disturb me in the least. 

Just before evening the thought took possession of my 
mind, that as soon as I was left alone in the new office, I 
would try to pray again — that I was not going to abandon 
the subject of religion and give it up, at any rate ; and 
therefore, although I no longer had any concern about my 
soul, still I would continue to pray. 

By evening we got the books and furniture adjusted ; 
and I made up, in an open fire-place, a good fire, hoping to 

spend the evening alone. Just at dark Squire W , seeing 

that everything was adjusted, bade me good-night and went 
to his home. I had accompanied him to the door ; and as 
I closed the door and turned around, my heart seemed to 
be liquid within me. All my feelings seemed to rise and 
flow out ; and the utterance of my heart was, " I want to 
pour my whole soul out to God." The rising of my sou* 
was so great that I rushed into the room back of the front 
office, to pray. 

There was no fire, and no light, in the room ; neverthe- 
less it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light. As I 
went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if I met 
the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It did not occur to ma 
then, nor did it for some time afterward, that it was wholly 



20 MEMOIKS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

a mental state. On the contrary it seemed to me that I 
saw him as I would see any other man. He said nothing, 
but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right 
down at his, feet. I have always since regarded this as a 
most remarkable state of mind ; for it seemed to me a real 
ity, that he stood before me, and I fell down at his feet and 
poured out my soul to him. I wept aloud like a child, and 
made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance. 
It seemed to me that I bathed his feet with my tears ; and 
yet I had no distinct impression that I touched him, that I 
recollect. 

I must have continued in this state for a good while ; 
but my mind was too much absorbed with the interview to 
recollect anything that I said. But I know, as soon as my 
mind became calm enough to break off from the interview, 
I returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I 
had made of large wood was nearly burned out. But as I 
turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a 
mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expec- 
tation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind 
that there was any such thing for me, without any recollec- 
tion that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any per- 
son in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a 
manner that seeined to go through me, body and soul. I 
could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going 
through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in 
waves and waves of liquid love ; for I could not express it in 
any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I 
can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like im- 
mense wings. 

No words can express the wonderful love that was shed 
abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love ; and 
I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the 
unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came over 
me, and over me, and over me, one after the other, until I 
recollect I cried out, "I shall die if these waves continue to 



COKVEltSIOK TO CflKlSt. 21 

pass over me." I said, " Lord, I cannot bear any more;" 
yet I had no fear of death. 

How long I continued in this state, with this baptism 
continuing to roll over me and go through me, I do not 
know. But I know it was late in the evening when a mem- 
ber of my choir — for I was the leader of the choir — came 
into the office to see me. He was a member of the church. 
He found me in this state of loud weeping, and said to me, 
"Mr. Finney, what ails you ? " I could make him no an- 
swer for some time. He then said, "Are you in pain ?" I 
gathered myself up as best I could, and replied, " No, but 
so happy that I Cannot live." 

He turned and left the office, and in a few minutes re- 
turned with one of the elders of the church, whose shop was 
nearly across the way. from our office. This elder was a very 
serious man ; and in my presence had been very watchful, 
and I had scarcely ever seen him laugh. "When he came in, I 
was very much in the state in which I was when the young 
man went out to call him. He asked me how I felt, and I 
began to tell him. Instead of saying anything, he fell into a 
most spasmodic laughter. It seemed as if it was impossible for 
him to keep from laughing from the very bottom of his heart. 

There was a young man in the neighborhood who was 
preparing f6r college, with whom I had been very intimate. 
Our minister, as I afterward learned, had repeatedly talked 
with him on the subject of religion, and warned him against 
being misled by me. He informed him that I was a very 
careless young man about religion ; and he thought that if 
he associated much with me his mind would be diverted, and 
he would not be converted. 

After I was converted, and this young man was converted, 
he told me that he had said to Mr. Gale several times, when 
he had admonished him about associating so much with me, 
that my conversations had often affected him more, reli- 
giously, than his preaching. I had, indeed, let out my feel- 
ings a good deal to this young man. 



22 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

But just at the time when I was giving an account of my 
feelings to this elder of the church, and to the other member 
who was with him, this young man came into the office. I 
was sitting with my back toward the door, and barely ob- 
served that he came in. He listened with astonishment to 
what I was saying, and the first I knew he partly fell upon 
the floor, and cried out in the greatest agony of mind, "Do 
pray for me ! " The elder of the church and the other mem- 
ber knelt down and began to pray for him ; and when they 
had prayed, I prayed for him myself. Soon after this they 
all retired and left me alone. 

The question then arose in my mind, "Why did Elder 

B laugh so ? Did he not think that I was under a 

delusion, or crazy ? " This suggestion brought a kind of 
darkness over my mind ; and I began to query with myself 
whether it was proper for me — such a sinner as I had been — 
to pray for that young man. A cloud seemed to shut in 
over me ; I had no hold upon anything in which I could 
rest ; and after a little while I retired to bed, not distressed 
in mind, but still at a loss to know what to make of my pres- 
ent state. Notwithstanding the baptism I had received, 
this temptation so obscured my view that I went to bed with- 
out feeling sure that my peace was made with God. 

I soon fell asleep, but almost as soon awoke again on ac- 
count of the great flow of the love of God that was in my 
heart. I was so filled with love that I could not sleep. 
Soon I fell asleep again, and awoke in the same manner. 
When I awoke, this temptation would return upon me, and 
the love that seemed to be in my heart would abate ; but as 
soon as I was asleep, it was so warm within me that I would 
immediately awake. Thus I continued till, late at night. I 
obtained some sound repose. 

When I awoke in the morning the sun had risen, and 
was pouring a clear light into my room. Words cannot ex- 
press the impression that this sunlight made upon me. In- 
stantly the baptism that I had received the night before, 



CONVERSION" TO CHRIST. 23 

returned upon me in the same manner. I arose upon my 
knees in the bed and wept aloud with joy, and remained for 
some time too much overwhelmed with the baptism of the 
Spirit to do anything but pour out my soul to God. It 
seemed as if this morning's baptism was acconrpanied with a 
gentle reproof, and the Spirit seemed to say to me, " Will 
you doubt ? " " Will you doubt ? " I cried, " No ! I will 
not doubt ; I cannot doubt." He then cleared the subject 
up so much to my mind that it was in fact impossible for 
me to doubt that the Spirit of God had taken possession of 
my soul. 

In this state I was taught the doctrine of justification by 
faith, as a present experience. That doctrine had never 
taken any such possession of my mind, that I had ever 
viewed it distinctly as a fundamental doctrine of the Gospel. 
Indeed, I did not know at all what it meant in the proper sense. 
But I could now see and understand what was meant by the 
passage, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ." I could see that 
the moment I believed, while up in the woods all sense of 
condemnation had entirely dropped out of my mind ; and 
that from that moment I could not feel a sense of guilt or 
condemnation by any effort that I could make. My sense 
of guilt was gone ; my sins were gone ; and I do not think 
I felt any more sense of guilt than if I never had sinned. 

This was just the revelation that I needed. I felt myself 
justified by faith ; and, so far as I could see, I was in a state 
in which I did not sin. Instead of feeling that I was sin- 
ning all the time, my heart was so full of love that it over- 
flowed. My cup ran over with blessing and with love ; and 
I could not feel that I was sinning against God. Nor could 
I recover the least sense of guilt for my past sins. Of this 
experience I said nothing that I recollect, at the time, to any- 
body ; that is, of this experience of justification. 



OHAPTEE IIL 

BEGItftflHG OF HIS WOBK. 

^F^HIS morning, of which I have just spoken, I went 

-L down into the office, and there I was having the 

renewal of these mighty waves of love and salvation flowing 

over me, when Squire W came into the office. I said a 

few words to him on the subject of his salvation. He looked 
at me with astonishment, but made no reply whatever, that I 
recollect. He dropped his head, and after standing a few 
minutes left the office. I thought no more of it then, but 
afterward found that the remark I made pierced him like 
a sword ; and he did not recover from it till he was con- 
verted. 

Soon after Mr. W had left the office, Deacon B — - 

came into the office and said to me, " Mr. Finney, do you rec- 
ollect that my cause is to be tried at ten o'clock this morn- 
ing ? I suppose you are ready ? " I had been retained to 
attend this suit as his attorney. I replied to him, " Deacon 

B , I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus Christ to plead 

his cause, and I cannot plead yours. " He looked at me with 
astonishment, and said, " "What do you mean ? " I told him, 
in a few words, that I had enlisted in the cause of Christ ; 
and then repeated that I had a retainer from the Lord Jesus 
Christ to plead his cause, and that he must go and get some- 
body else to attend his law-suit ; I could not do it. He 
dropped his head, and without making any reply, went out. 
A few moments later, in passing the window, I observed that 

Deacon B was standing in the road, seemingly lost m 

deep meditation. He went away, as I afterward learned, and 
immediately settled his suit. He then betook himself to 



BEGINNING OF HIS WOKK. 25 

prayer and soon got into a much higher religious state than 
he had ever been in before. 

I soon sallied forth from the office to converse with those 
whom I should meet about their souls. I had the impres- 
sion, which has never left my mind, that God wanted me to 
preach the Gospel, and that I must begin immediately. I 
somehow seemed to know it. If you ask me how I knew it, 
I cannot tell how I knew it, any more than I can tell how 1 
knew that that was the love of God and the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost which I had received. I did somehow know 
it with a certainty that was past all possibility of doubt. 
And so I seemed to know that the Lord commissioned me 
to preach the Gospel. 

When I was first convicted, the thought had occurred to 
my mind that if I was ever converted I should be obliged to 
leave my profession, of which I was very fond, and go to 
preaching the Gospel. This at first stumbled me. I thought 
I had taken too much pains, and spent too much time and 
study in my profession to think now of becoming a Chris- 
tian, if by doing so 1 should be obliged to preach the Gospel. 
However, I at last came to the conclusion that I must sub- 
mit that question to God ; that I had never commenced the 
study of law from any regard to God, and that I had no 
right to make any conditions with him ; and I therefore had 
laid aside the thought of becoming a minister, until it was 
sprung in my mind, as I have related, on my way from my 
place of prayer in the woods. 

But now after receiving these baptisms of the Spirit I 
was quite willing to preach the Gospel. Nay, I found that 
I was unwilling to do anything else. I had no longer any 
desire to practise law. Everything in that direction was 
shut up, and had no longer any attractions for me at all. I 
had no disposition to make money. I had no hungering and 
thirsting after worldly pleasures and amusements in any 
direction. My whole mind was taken up with Jesus and 
his salvation ; and the world seemed to me of very little 
2 



20 MEMOIRS OF CHABLES Q. FINNEY. 

consequence. Nothing, it seemed to me, could be put in 
competition with the worth of souls ; and no labor, I 
thought, could be so sweet, and no employment so exalted, 
as that of holding up Christ to a dying world. 

With this impression, as I said, I sallied forth to converse 
with any with whom I might meet. I first dropped in at the 
shop of a shoemaker, who was a pious man, and one of the 
most praying Christians, as I thought, in the church. I 
found him in conversation with a son of one of the elders of 
the church ; and this young man was defending Universal- 
ism. Mr. W , the shoemaker, turned to me and said, 

" Mr. Finney, what do you think of the argument of this 
young man ; " and he then stated what he had been saying 
in defence of Universalism. The answer appeared to me so 
ready that in a moment I was enabled to blow his argument 
to the wind. The young man saw at once that his argu- 
ment was gone ; and he rose up without making any reply, 
and went suddenly out. But soon I observed, as I stood in 
the middle of the room, that the young man, instead of 
going along the street, had passed around the shop, had 
climbed over the fence, and was steering straight across the 
fields toward the woods. I thought no more of it until 
evening, when the young man came out, and aj>peared to 
be a bright convert, giving a relation of his experience. 
He went into the woods, and there, as he said, gave his heart 
to God. 

I spoke with many persons that day, and I believe the 
Spirit of God made lasting impressions upon every one of 
them. I cannot remember one whom I spoke with, who 
was not soon after converted. Just at evening I called at 
the house of a friend, where a young man lived who was 
employed in distilling whiskey. The family had heard that 
I had become a Christian ; and as they were about to sit 
down to tea, they urged me to sit down and take tea with 
them. The man of the house and his wife were both pro- 
fessors of religion. But a sister of the lady, who was pres- 



BEGINNING OF HIS WOBK. 27 

ent, was an unconverted girl ; and this young man of whom 
I have spoken, a distant relative of the family, was a pro- 
fessed Universalist. He was rather an outspoken and talk- 
ative Universalist, and a young man of a good deal of energy 
of character. 

I sat down with them to tea, and they requested me to 
ask a blessing. It was what I had never done ; but I did 
not hesitate a moment, but commenced to ask the blessing 
of God as we sat around the table. I had scarcely more than 
begun before the state of these young people rose before my 
mind, and excited so much compassion that I burst into 
weeping, and was unable to proceed. Every one around the 
table sat speechless for a short time, while I continued to 
weep. Directly, the young man moved back from the table 
and rushed out of the room. He fled to his room and 
locked himself in, and was not seen again till the next 
morning, when he came out expressing a blessed hope in 
Christ. He has been for many years an able minister of 
the Gospel. 

In the course of the day, a good deal of excitement was 
created in the village by its being reported what the Lord 
had lone for my soul. Some thought one thing, and some 
another. At evening, without any appointment having beea 
made that I could learn, I observed that the people were 
going to the place where they usually held their conference 
and prayer meetings. My conversion had created a good 
deal of astonishment in the village. I afterward learned 
that some time before this some members of the church had 
proposed, in a church meeting, to make me a particular sub- 
ject of prayer, and that Mr. Gale had discouraged them, 
saying that he did not believe I would ever be converted ; 
that from conversing with me he had found that I was very 
much enlightened upon the subject of religion, and very 
much hardened. And furthermore, he said he was almost' 
discouraged ; that I led the choir, and taught the young 
people sacred music ; and that they were so much under my 



28 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FlffSTEY. 

influence that he did not believe that, while I remained in 
Adams, they would ever be converted. 

I found after I was converted, that some of the wicked 
men in the place had hid behind me. One man in par- 
ticular, a Mr. , who had a pious wife, had repeatedly 

said to her, " If religion is true, why don't you convert Fin- 
ney ? If you Christians can convert Finney, I will believe in 
religion. 

An old lawyer by the name of M , living in Adams, 

when he heard it rumored that day that I was converted, 
said that it was all a hoax ; that I was simply trying to see 
what I could make Christian people believe. 

However, with one consent the people seemed to rush to 
the place of worship. I went there myself. The minister 
was there, and nearly all the principal people in the village. 
No one seemed ready to open the meeting ; but the house 
was packed to its utmost capacity. I did not wait for any- 
body, but arose and began by saying that I then knew that 
religion was from God. I went on and told such parts of 
my experience as it seemed important for me to tell. This 
Mr. C , who had promised his wife that if I was con- 
verted he would believe in religion, was present. Mr. M , 

the old lawyer, was also present. What the Lord enabled 
me to say seemed to take a wonderful hold upon the people. 

Mr. C got up, pressed through the crowd, and went 

home, leaving his hat. Mr. M also left and went home, 

saying I was crazy. " He is in earnest," said he, " there is 
no mistake ; but he is deranged, that is clear." 

As soon as I had done speaking, Mr. Gale, the minister, 
rose and made a confession. He said he believed he had 
oeen in the way of the church ; and then confessed that he 
had discouraged the church when they had proposed to pray 
for me. He said also that when he had heard that day that 
I was converted, he had promptly said that he did not be- 
lieve it. He said he had no faith. He spoke in a very hum- 
ble manner. 



BEGlJffJUNG OF HIS WORK. 29 

I had never made a prayer in public. But soon after 
Mr. Gale was through speaking, he called on me to pray. 1 
did so, and think I had a good deal of enlargement and lib- 
erty in prayer. We had a wonderful meeting that evening ; 
and, from that day, we had a meeting every evening for a 
long time. The work spread on eveiy side. 

As I had been a leader among the young people, I imme- 
diately appointed a meeting for them, which they all 
attended — that is, all of the class with which I was ac- 
quainted. I gave up my time to labor for their conversion ; 
and the Lord blessed every effort that was made, in a very 
wonderful manner. They were converted one after another, 
with great rapidity ; and the work continued among them 
until but one of their number was left unconverted. 

The work spread among all classes ; and extended itself, 
not only through the village, but out of the village in every 
direction. My heart was so full that, for more than a week, 
I did not feel at all inclined to sleep or eat. I seemed liter- 
ally to have meat to eat that the world knew nothing of. 1 
did not feel the need of food, or of sleep. My mind wa& 
full of the love of God to overflowing. I went on in this 
way for a good many days, until I found that I must rest 
and sleep, or I should become insane. From that point I 
was more cautious in my labors ; and ate regularly, and 
slept as much as I could. 

The word of God had wonderful power ; and I was 
every day surprised to find that a few words, spoken to an 
individual, would stick in his heart like an arrow. 

After a short time I went down to Henderson, where my 
father lived, and visited him. He was an unconverted man ; 
and only one of the family, my youngest brother, had ever 
made a profession of religion. My father met me at the gate 
and said, "How do you do, Charles?" I replied, "I am 
well, father, body and soul. But, father, you are an old man ; 
all your children are grown up and have left your house ; 
and I never heard a prayer in my father's house." Father 



30 MEMOIBS OF CHARLES G. lltftfEY. 

dropped his head, and burst into tears, and replied, "1 
know it, Charles ; come in and pray yourself." 

We went in and engaged in prayer. My father and 
mother were greatly moved ; and in a yery short time there- 
after they were both hopefully converted. I do not know 
but my mother had had a secret hope before ; but if so, none 
of the family, I believe, ever knew it. 

I remained in that neighborhood, I think, for two or 
three days, and conversed more or less with such people as I 
could meet with. I believe it was the next Monday night, 
they had a monthly concert of prayer in that town. There 
were there a Baptist church that had a minister, and a small 
Congregational church without a minister. The town was 
very much of a moral waste, however ; and at this time 
religion was at a very low ebb. 

My youngest brother attended this monthly concert of 
which I have spoken, and afterward gave me an account of 
it. The Baptist? and Congregationalists were in the habit 
of holding a union monthly concert. But few attended, 
And therefore it was held at a private house. On this occa- 
sion they met, as usual, in the parlor of a private house. A 
few of the members of the Baptist church, and a few Con- 
gregationalists, were present. 

The deacon of the Congregational church was a spare, 

feeble old man, by the name of M . He was quiet in his 

ways, and had a good reputation for piety ; but seldom said 
much upon the subject. He was a good specimen of a New 
England deacon. He was present, and they called upon him 
to lead the meeting. He read a passage of Scripture accord- 
ing to their custom. They then sung a hymn, and Deacon 

M stood up behind his chair, and led in prayer. The 

other persons present, all of them professors of religion, and 
younger people, knelt down around the room. 

My brother said that Deacon M began as usual in his 

prayer, in a low, feeble voice ; but soon began to wax warm 
and to raise his voice, which became tremulous with emo« 



BEGLBCNLSG OP HIS WOBK. 31 

tion. He proceeded to pray with more and more earnest- 
ness, till soon lie began to rise upon his toes and come down 
upon his heels ; and then to rise upon his toes and drop 
upon his heels again, so that they could feel the jar in the 
room. He continued to raise his voice, and to rise upoE 
his toes, and come down upon his heels more emphatically. 
And as the spirit of prayer led him onward he began to 
raise his chair together with his heels, and bring that down 
upon the floor ; and soon he raised it a little higher, and 
brought it down with still more emphasis. He continued 
to do this, and grew more and more engaged, till he would 
bring the chair down as if he would break it to pieces. 

In the meantime the brethren and sisters that were on 
their knees, began to groan, and sigh, and weep, and 
agonize in prayer. The deacon continued to struggle until 
he was about exhausted ; and when he ceased, my brother 
said that no one in the room could get on 2 from his knees. 
They could only weep and confess, and all melt down before 
the Lord. From this meeting the work of the Lord spread 
forth in every direction all over the town. And thus it 
spread at that time from Adams as a centre, throughout 
nearly all the towns in the county. 

I have spoken of the conviction of Squire W -, in 

whose office I studied law. I have also said that when I 
was converted, it was in a grove where I went to pray. 
Very soon after my conversion, several other' cases of 
conversion occurred that were reported to have taken 
place under similar circumstances ; that is, persons went up 
into the grove to pray, and there made their peac€ 
with God. 

When Squire W heard them tell their experience, 

one after the other, in our meetings, he thought that he had 
a parlor to pray in ; and that he was not going up into the 
woods, to have the same story to tell that had been so often 
told. To this, it appeared, he strongly committed himself. 
Although this was a thing entirely immaterial in itself ; yet 



32 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FINNEY 

it was a point on which his pride had become committed, 
and therefore he could not get into the kingdom of God. 

I have found in my ministerial experience a great many 
cases of this kind ; where upon some question, perhaps im- 
material in itself, a sinner's pride, of heart would commit 
him. In all such cases the dispute must be yielded, or the 
sinner never will get into the kingdom of God. I have 
known persons te remain for weeks in great tribulation of 
mind, pressed by the Spirit ; but they could make no pro- 
gress till the point upon which they were committed was 

yielded. Mr. AV was the first case of the kind that had 

ever come to my notice. 

After he was converted, he said the question had fre- 
quently come up when he was in prayer ; and that he had 
been made to see that it was pride that made him take that 
stand, and that kept him out of the kingdom of God. But 
still he was not willing to admit this, even to himself. He 
tried in every way to make himself believe, and to make God 
believe, that he was not proud. One night, he said, he 
prayed all night in his parlor that God would have mercy 
on him ; but in the morning he felt more distressed than 
ever. He finally became enraged that God did not hear 
his prayer, and was tempted to kill himself. He was so 
tempted to use his pen-knife for that purpose, that he 
actually threw it as far as he could, that it might bo 
lost, so that this temptation should not prevail. He said 
that, one night, on returning from meeting, he was so 
pressed with a sense of his pride, and with the fact that 
it 2>re vented his going up into the woods to pray,' that he wa# 
determined to make himself believe, and make God believe, 
that he was not proud ; and he sought around for a mud 
puddle in which to kneel down, that he might demonstrate 
that it was not pride which kept him from going into the 
woods. Thus he continued to struggle for several weeks. 

But one afternoon I was sitting in our office, and two of 
the elders of the church with me ; when the young man that 



BEGINNING OF HIS WORK. SB 

I had met at the shoemaker's shop, came hastily into the 
office, and exclaimed as he came, "Squire W is con- 
verted ! " and proceeded to say : "I went up into the woods 
to pray, and heard some one over in the valley shouting very 
loud. I went up to the brow of the hill, where I could look 
down, and I saw Squire W pacing to and fro, and sing- 
ing as loud as he could sing ; and every few moments he 
would stop and clap his hands with his full strength, and 
shout, ' I will rejoice in the God of my salvation ! ' Then 
he would march and sing again ; and then stop, and shout, 
and clap his hands." While the young man was telling us 

this, behold, Squire W appeared in sight, coming over 

*--he hill. As he came down to the foot of the hill we 

observed that he met Father T , as we all called him, an 

aged Methodist brother. He rushed up to him, and took 
him right up in his arms. After setting him doAvn, and con- 
versing a moment, he came rapidly toward the office. When 
he came in, he was in a profuse perspiration — he was a heavy 
man, and he cried out, "I've got it ! " I've got it !" clapped 
his hands with all his might, and fell upon his knees and 
began to give thanks to God. He then gave us an account 
of what' had been passing in his mind, and why he had not 
obtained a hope before. He said as soon as he gave up that 
point and went into the woods, his mind was relieved ; and 
when he knelt down to pray, the Spirit of God came upon 
him and filled him with such unspeakable joy that it resulted 
in the scene which the young man witnessed. Of course 

from that time Squire W took a decided stand for 

God. 

Toward spring the older members of the church began 
to abate in their zeal. I had been in the habit of rising 
early in the morning, and spending a season of prayer alone 
in the meeting-house ; and I finally succeeded in interesting 
a considerable number of brethren to meet me there in the 
morning for a prayer-meeting. This was at a very early 
hour ; and we were generally together long before it wag 



34 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FtNKEl. 

light enough to see to read. I persuaded my minister to 
attend these morning meetings. 

But soon they began to be remiss ; whereupon I would 
get up in time to go around to their houses and wake them 
up. Many times I went round and round, and called the 
brethren that I thought would be most likely to attend, and 
we would have a precious season of prayer. But still the 
>rethren, I found, attended with more and more reluctance ; 
which fact greatly tried me. 

One morning I had been around and called the brethren 
up, and when I returned to the meeting-house but few of 
them had got there. Mr. Gale, my minister, was standing 
at the door of the church, and as I came up, all at once the 
glory of God shone upon and round about me, in a manner 
most marvellous. The day was just beginning to dawn. 
But all at once a light perfectly ineffable shone in my soul, 
that almost prostrated me to the ground. In this light it 
seemed as if I could see that all nature praised and worship- 
ped God except man. This light seemed to be like the 
brightness of the sun in every direction. It was too intense 
for the eyes. I recollect casting my eyes down and break- 
_ng into a flood of tears, in view of the fact that mankind 
did not praise God. I think I knew something then, by 
actual experience, of that light that prostrated Paul on his 
way to Damascus. It was surely a light such as I could not 
have endured long. 

When I burst out into such loud weeping, Mr. Gale said, 
''• What is the matter, brother Finney ? " I could not tell 
him. I found that he had seen no light ; and that he saw 
no reason why I should be in such a state of mind. I there- 
fore said but little. I believe I merely replied, that I saw 
the glory of God ; and that I could not endure to think of 
the manner in which he was treated by men. Indeed, it 
did not seem to me at the time that the vision of his glory 
which I had, was to bo described in words. I wept it out ; 



BEGINNING OF HIS WORK. 35 

and the vision, if it may be so called, passed away and left 
my mind calm. 

I used to have, when I was a young Christian, many sea- 
sons of communing with God which can not be described in 
words. And not unfrequently those seasons would end in 
an impression on my mind like this : " Go, see that thou tell 
no man." I did not understand this at the time, and seve- 
ral times I paid no attention to this injunction ; but tried to 
tell my Christian brethren what communications the Lord 
had made to me, or rather what seasons of communion I 
had with him. But I soon found that it would not do to 
tell my brethren what was passing between the Lord and my 
soul. They could not understand it. They would look sur- 
prised, and sometimes, I thought, incredulous ; and I soon 
learned to keep quiet in regard to those divine manifesta- 
tions, and say but little about them. 

I used to spend a great deal of time in prayer ; some- 
times, I thought, literally praying "without ceasing." I 
also found it very profitable, and felt very much inclined to 
hold frequent days of private fasting. On those days I 
would seek to be entirely alone with God, and would gener- 
ally wander off into the woods, or get into the meeting 
house, or somewhere away entirely by myself. 

Sometimes I would pursue a wrong course in fasting, and 
attempt to examine myself according to the ideas of self-ex- 
amination then entertained by my minister and the church. 
I would try to look into my own heart, in the sense of ex- 
amining my feelings ; and would turn my attention particu- 
larly to my motives, and the state of my mind. When I 
pursued this course, I found invariably that the day would 
dose without any perceptible advance being made. After- 
wards I saw clearly why this was so. Turning my atten- 
tion, as I did, from the Lord Jesus Christ, and looking into 
myself, examining my motives and feelings, my feelings all 
subsided of course. But whenever I fasted, and let the 
Spirit take his own course with me, and gave myself up to 



36 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FiKKUt. 

let him lead and instruct me, I universally found it in the 
highest degree useful. I found I could not live without 
enjoying the presence of God ; and if at any time a cloud 
came over me, I could not rest, I could not study, I could 
not attend to anything with the least satisfaction or benefit, 
until the medium was again cleared between my soul and 
Jod. 

I had been very fond of my profession. But as I have 
said, when I was converted all was dark in that direction, and 
I had, no more, any pleasure in attending to law business. 
I had many very pressing invitations to conduct lawsuits, 
but I uniformly refused. I did not dare to trust myself ir, 
the excitement of a contested lawsuit ; and furthermore, the 
business itself of conducting other people's controversies, 
appeared odious and offensive to me. 

The Lord taught me, in those early days of my Christian 
experience, many very important truths in regard to the 
spirit of prayer. Not long after I was converted, a woman 
with whom I had boarded — though I did not board with her 
at this time, was taken very sick. She was not a Christian, 
but her husband was a professor of religion. He came .nto 

our office one evening, being a brother of Squire W- , 

and said to me, "My wife cannot live through the night." 
This seemed to plant an arrow, as it were, in my heart. 
It came upon me in the sense of a burden that crushed 
me, the nature of which I could not at all understand ; 
but with it came an intense desire to pray for that woman. 
The burden was so great that I left the office almost imme- 
diately, and went up to the meeting house, to pray for hefT" 
There I struggled, but could not say much. I could only 
groan with groanings loud and deep. 

I stayed a considerable time in the church, in this state 
of mind, but got no relief. I returned to the office ; but I 
could not sit still. I could only walk the room and ago- 
nize. I returned to the meeting house again, and went 
through the same process of struggling. For a long time 1 



BEGIKKItfG OF HIS WORK. 37 

tried to get my prayer before the Lord ; but somehow words 
could not express it. I could only groan and weep, with- 
out being able to express what I wanted in words. I re- 
turned to the office again, and still found 1 was unable to 
rest ; and I returned a third time to the meeting house. 
At this time the Lord gave me power to prevail. I was 
enabled to roll the burden upon him ; and I obtained the 
assurance in my own mind that the woman would not die, 
and indeed that she would never die in her sins. 

I returned to the office. My mind was perfectly quiet ; 
and I soon left and retired to rest. Early the next morning 
the husband of this woman came into the office. I enquired 
how his wife was. He, smiling said, " She's alive, and to 
all appearance better this morning. " I replied, "Brother 

W , she will not die with this sickness ; you may rely 

upon it. And she will never die in her sins." I do not 
know how I was made sure of this ; but it was in some way 
made plain to me, so that I had no doubt that she would 
recover. She did recover, and soon after obtained a hope 
in Christ. 

At first I did not understand what this exercise of mind 
that I had passed through, was. But shortly after in relat- 
ing it to a Christian brother he said to me, " Why, that was 
the travail of your soul." A few minutes' conversation, 
and pointing me to certain scriptures, gave me to under- 
stand what it was. 

Another experience which I had soon after this, illustrates 
the same truth. I have spoken of one young woman as 
belonging to the class of young people of my acquaintance, 
who remained unconverted. This attracted a good deal 
of attention ; and there was considerable conversation 
among Christians about her case. She was naturally a charm- 
ing girl, and very much enlightened on the subject of reli- 
gion, but she remained in her sins. 

One of the elders of the church and myself agreed to 
make her a daily subject of prayer, to continue to present 



38 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

her case at the throne of grace, morning, noon, and evening, 
until she was either converted, or should die, or we should 
be unable to keep our covenant. I found my mind greatly 
exercised about her ; and more and more, as I continued to 
pray for her. I soon found, however, that the elder who 
had entered into this arrangement with me, was losing his 
spirit of prayer for her. But this did not discourage me. 
I continued to hold on with increasing importunity. I also 
availed myself of every opportunity to converse plainly and 
searchingly with her on the subject of her salvation. 

After I had continued in this way for sometime, one 
evening I called to see her just as the sun was setting. As 
I came up to the door I heard a shriek from a female voice, 
and a scuffling and confusion inside the door ; and stood 
and waited for the confusion to be over. The lady of the 
house soon came and opened the door, and held in her hand 
a portion of a book, which had evidently been torn in two. 
She was pale and very much agitated. She held out that 
portion of the book which she had in her hand, and said, 
" Mr. Finney, don't you think my sister has become a 
Universalist ? " The book was a defense of Universalism. 
Her sister had detected her reading it in a private way, and 
tried to get it away from her ; and it was the struggle to 
obtain that book which I had heard. 

I received this information at the door ; whereupon I 
declined to go in. It struck me very much in the same 
way as had the announcement that the sick woman, 
already mentioned, was about to die. It loaded me down 
with great agony. As I returned to my room, at some dis- 
tance from that house, I felt almost as if I should stagger 
under the burden that was on my mind ; and I struggled, 
and groaned, and agonized, but could not frame to present 
the case before God in words, but only in groans and tears. 

It seemed to me that the discovery that that young 
woman, instead of being converted, was becoming a Univer- 
salist, so astounded ir.c that I could not break through with 



BEGINNING OF HIS WORK. 39 

my faith, and get hold of God in reference to her case. 
There seemed to be a darkness hanging oyer the question, 
as if a cloud had risen up between me and God, m regard 
to prevailing for her salvation. But still the Spirit struggled 
within me with groanings that could not be uttered. 

However, I was obliged to retire that night without hav- 
ng prevailed. But as soon as it was light I awoke ; and the 
first thought that I had was to beseech the God of grace 
again for that young woman. I immediately arose and fell 
upon my knees. No sooner was I upon my knees than the 
darkness gave way, and the whole subject opened to my 
mind ; and as soon as I plead for her God said to me, 
" Yes ! yes ! " If he had spoken with an audible voice, 
it would not have been more distinctly understood than was 
this word spoken within my soul. It instantly relieved all 
my solicitude. My mind became filled with the greatest 
peace and joy ; and I felt a complete certainty that her sal- 
vation was secure. 

I drew a false inference, however, in regard to the time 
which indeed was not a thing particularly impressed upon 
my mind at the time of my prayer. Still I expected her to 
be converted immediately ; but she was not. She remained 
in her sins for several months. In its proper place I shall 
have occasion to speak of her conversion. I felt disap- 
pointed, at the time, that she was not converted at once ; 
and was somewhat staggered upon the question whether I 
had really prevailed with God in her behalf. 

Soon after I was converted, the man with whom I had 
been boarding for some time, who was a magistrate, and one 
of the principal men in the place, was deeply convicted of 
gin, He had been elected a member of the legislature of 
the state. I was praying daily for him, and urging him to 
give his heart to God. His conviction became very deep ; 
but still, from day to day, he deferred submission, and did 
not obtain a hope. My solicitude for him increased. 

One afternoon several of his political friends had a pro- 



40 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINtfET. 

tracted interview with him. On the evening of the same day 
I attempted again to carry his case to God ; as the urgency in 
my mind for his conversion had become very great. In my 
prayer I had drawn very near to God. I do not remember 
ever to have been in more intimate communion with tho 
fjord Jesus Christ than I was at that time. Indeed his 
presence was so real that I was bathed in tears of joy, and 
gratitude, and love ; and in this state of mind I attempted 
to pray for this friend. But the moment I did so, my mouth 
was shut. I found it impossible to pray a word for him. 
The Lord seemed to say to me, " No ; I will not hear." An 
anguish seized upon me ; I thought at first it was a tempta- 
tion. But the door was shut in my face. It seemed as if 
the Lord said to me, " Speak no more to me of that mat- 
ter." It pained me beyond expression. I did not know 
what to make of it. 

The next morning I saw him ; and as soon as I brought 
up the question of submission to God, he said to me, " Mr. 
Finney, I shall have nothing more to do with it until I 
return from the legislature. I stand committed to my polit- 
ical friends to carry out certain measures in the legislature, 
that are incompatible with my first becoming a Christian ; 
and I have promised that I will not attend to the subject 
until after I have returned from Albany." 

From the moment of that exercise the evening before, I 
had no spirit of prayer for him at all. As soon as he told 
me what he had done, I understood it. I could see that his 
convictions were all gone, and that the Spirit of God had 
left him. From that time he grew more careless and 
hardened than ever. 

When the time arrived he went to the legislature ; and 
in the Spring he returned an almost insane Universalist. I 
say almost insane, because, instead of having formed his 
opinions from any evidence or course of argument, he told 
me this : he said, " I have come to that conclusion, not 
because I have found it taught in the Bible, but because such 



BEGItf^ISTG OF HIS WOiiK. 41 

a doctrine is so opposed to the carnal mind. It is a doctrine 
bo generally rejected and spoken against, as to prove that it 
is distasteful to the carnal, or unconverted mind." This 
was astonishing to me. But everything else that I could 
get out of him was as wild and absurd as this. He remained 
in his sins, finally fell into decay, and died at last, as I haye 
been told, a dilapidated man, and in the full faith of hii 
UniYersaliflin. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SSIB DOCTBIHAL EDUCATION AND OTHEB EXPEBIEHCES At 

ADAMS. x 

SOON after I was converted I called on my pastor, and 
had a long conversation with him on the atonement. 
He was a Princeton student, and of course held the limited 
view of the atonement — that it was made for the elect and 
available to none else. Our conversation lasted nearly half 
a day. He held that Jesus suffered for the elect the literal 
penalty of the Divine law ; that he suffered just what was 
due to each of the elect on the score of retributive justice. 
I objected that this was absurd ; as in that case he suffered 
the equivalent of endless misery multiplied by the whole 
number of the elect. He insisted that this was true. He 
affirmed that Jesus literally paid the debt of the elect, and 
fully satisfied retributive justice. On the contrary it 
seemed to me that Jesus only satisfied public justice, and 
that that was all that the government of God could require. 

I was however but a child in theology. I was but . a 
novice in religion and in Biblical learning ; but I thought he 
did not sustain his views from the Bible, and told him so. 
I had read nothing on the subject except my Bible ; and 
what I had there found upon the subject, I had inter- 
preted as I would have understood the same or like pas- 
sages m a lawbook. I thought he had evidently interpreted 
those texts in conformity with an established theory of the 
atonement. I had never heard him preach the views he 
maintained in that discussion. I was surprised in view of 
his positions, and withstood them as best I could. 

He was alarmed, I dare say, at what appeared to him to 



HIS DOCTBIKAL EDUCATION. 43 

be my obstinacy. I thought that my Bible clearly taught 
that the atonement was made for all men. He limited it to 
a part I could not accept this view, for I could not see 
that he fairly proved it from the Bible. His rules of inter- 
pretation did not meet my views. They were much less 
definite and intelligible than those to which I had been 
accustomed in my law studies. To the objections which I 
urged, he could make no satisfactory reply. I asked him if 
the Bible did not require all who hear the Gospel to repent, 
believe the Gospel, and be saved. He admitted that it did 
require all to believe, and be saved. But how could they 
believe and accept a salvation which was not provided for 
them ? 

We went over the whole field of debate between the old 
and new school divines, upon the subject of atonement, 
as my subsequent theological studies taught me. I do 
not recollect to have ever read a page upon the subject 
except what I had found in the Bible. I had never, to my 
recollection, heard a sermon or any discussion whatevei 
upon the question. 

This discussion was often renewed, and continued through 
my whole course of theological studies under him. He 
expressed concern lest I should not accept the orthodox 
faith. I believe he had the strongest conviction that I was 
truly converted ; but he felt the greatest desire to keep me 
within the strict lines of Princeton theology. 

He had it fixed in his mind that I should be a minister j 
and he took pains to inform me that if I did become a min- 
ister, the Lord would not bless my labors, and his Spirit 
would not bear witness to my preaching, unless I preached 
the truth. I believed this myself. But this was not to me 
^ very strong argument in favor of his views ; for he informed 
me— but not in connection with this conversation, that he 
did not know that he had ever been instrumental in convert- 
ing a sinner. 

I had never heard him preach particularly on the subject 



44 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. EINNEY. 

of the atonement ; I think he feared to present his particu- 
lar views to the people. His church, I am sure, did not 
embrace his view of a limited atonement. 

After this we had frequent conversations, not only on 
the question of the atonement, but on various theological 
questions, of which I shall have occasion to speak more 
fully hereafter. 

I have said that in the spring of the year the older mem- 
bers of the church began manifestly to decline in their 
engagedness and zeal for God. This greatly oppressed me, 
as it did also the young converts generally. About this 
time I read in a newspaper an article under the head of, "A 
revival revived." The substance of it was, that in a certain 
place there had been a revival during the winter ; that in 
the spring it declined ; and that upon earnest prayer being 
offered for the continued out-pouring of the Spirit, the 
revival was powerfully revived. This article set me into a 
flood of weeping. 

I was at that time boarding with Mr. Gale, and I took 
the article to him. I was so overcome with a sense of the 
divine goodness in hearing and answering prayer, and with a 
felt assurance that he would hear and answer prayer for 
the revival of his work in Adams, that I went through the 
house weeping aloud like a child. Mr. Gale seemed sur- 
prised at my feelings, and my expressed confidence that God 
would revive his work. The article made no such impres- 
sion on him as it did on me. 

At the next meeting of the young people, I proposed that 
we should observe a closet concert of prayer for the revival 
of God's work ; that we should pray at sunrise, at noon, 
and at sunset, in our closets, and continue this for one week , 
when we should come together again and see what farther 
was to be done. No other means we^e used for the revival 
of God's work. But the spirit of prayer was immediately 
poured out wonderfully upon the young converts. Before 
the week was out I learned that some of them, when the? 



HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION. 45 

would attempt to observe this season of prayer, would lose 
all their strength and be unable to rise to their feet, or even 
stand upon their knees in their closets ; and that some 
would lie prostrate on the floor, and pray with unutterable 
groanings for the out-pouring of the Spirit of God. 

The Spirit v was poured out, and before the week ended all 
the meetings were thronged ; and there was as much interest 
in religion, I think, as there had been at any time during the 
revival. 

And here, I am sorry to say, a mistake was made, or, 
perhaps I should say, a sin committed, by some of the older 
members of the church, which resulted in great evil. As I 
afterward learned, a considerable number of the older people 
resisted this new movement among the young converts. 
They were jealous of it. They did not know what to make 
of it, and felt that the young converts were getting out of 
their place, in being so forward and so urgent upon the older 
members of the church. This state of mind finally grieved 
the Spirit of God. It was not long before alienations began 
to arise among these older members of the church, which 
finally resulted in great evil to those who had allowed them- 
selves to resist this latter revival. 

The young people held out well. The converts, so far as 
I know, were almost universally sound, and have been thor- 
oughly efficient Christians. 

In the Spring of this year, 1822, I put myself under the 
care of the Presbytery as a candidate for the Gospel ministry. 
Some of the ministers urged me to go to Princeton to study 
theology, but I declined. "When they asked me why I 
would not go to Princeton, I told them that my pecuniary 
circumstances forbade it. This was true ; but they said they 
would see that my expenses were paid. Still I refused to go ; 
and when urged to give them my reasons, I plainly told them 
that I would not put myself under such an influence as they 
had been under ; that I was confident they had been wrongly 
educated, and they were not ministers that met my ideal of 



46 MEMOLRS OF CHARLES G. FItfNEY. 

what a minister of Christ should be. I told them this reluc- 
tantly, but I could not honestly withhold it. They appointed 
my pastor to superintend my studies. He offered me the 
use of his library, and said he would give what attention I 
needed to my theological studies. 

But my studies, so far as he was concerned as my teacher, 
*vere little else than controversy. He held to the old school 
doctrine of original sin, or that the human constitution was 
morally depraved. He held also, that men were utterly 
unable to comply with the terms of the Gospel, to repent, 
to believe, or to do anything that God required them to do ; 
that while they were free to all evil, in the sense of being 
able to commit any amount of sin, yet they were not free to 
perform any good ; that God had condemned men for their 
sinful nature ; and for this, as well as for their transgres- 
sions, they deserved eternal death. 

He held also that the influences of the Spirit of God on 
the minds of men were physical, acting directly upon the 
substance of the soul ; that men were passive in regenera- 
tion ; and in short he held all those doctrines that logically 
flow from the fact of a nature sinful in itself. 

These doctrines I could not receive. I could not receive 
his views on the subject of atonement, regeneration, faith, 
repentance, the slavery of the will, or any of the kindred 
doctrines. But of these views he was quite tenacious ; anjd 
he seemed sometimes not a little impatient because I did not 
receive them without question. 

He used to insist that if I would reason on the subject, I 
should probably land in infidelity. And then he would 
remind me that some of the students who had been at 
Princeton had gone away infidels, because they would rea- 
son on the subject, and would not accept the confession of 
faith, and the teaching of the doctors at that school. He 
furthermore warned me repeatedly, and very feelingly, that 
as a minister I should never be useful unless I embraced the 
truth meaning the truth as he believed and taught it. 



HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION. 4:7 

I am sure I was quite willing to believe what I found 
taught in the Bible, and told him so. We used to haye 
many protracted discussions ; and I would often come from 
his study greatly depressed and discouraged, saying to my- 
sjlf, " I cannot embrace these views come what will. I can- 
not believe they are taught in the Bible." And several times 
I was on the point of giving up the study for the ministry 
altogether. 

There was but one member of the church to whom 1 
opened my mind freely on this subject ; and that was Elder 

H , a very godly, praying man. He had been educated 

in Princeton views, and held pretty strongly the higher doc- 
trines of Calvinism. Nevertheless, as we had frequent and 
protracted conversations, he became satisfied that I was 
right ; and he would call on me frequently to have seasons 
of prayer with me, to strengthen me in my studies, and in 

my discussions with Mr. G , and to decide me more and 

more firmly that, come what would, I would preach the 
Gospel. 

Several times he fell in with me when I was in a state 
of great depression, after coming from Mr. Gale's study. 
At such times he would go with me to my room ; and some- 
times we would continue till a late hour at night crying to 
God for light and strength, and for faith to accept and do 
his perfect will. He lived more than three miles from the 
\illage ; and frequently he has stayed with me till ten or 
eleven o'clock at night, and then walked home. The dear 
old man ! I have reason to believe that he prayed for me 
daily as long as he lived. 

After I got into the ministry and great opposition was 

raised to my preaching, I met Elder H at one time, 

and he alluded to the opposition, and said, " Oh ! my sou] 
is so burdened that I pray for you day and night. But I 
am sure that God will help. Go on," he said, "go on 
brother Finney; the Lord will give you deliverance." 

One afternoon Mr. Gale and I had been conversing for a 



/ 



48 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItfNET. 

long time on the subject of the atonement, and the horn 
arrived for us to attend the conference meeting. We con- 
tinued our conversation on that subject until we got into the 
house. As we were early, and very few persons had arrived, 
we continued our conversation. The people kept coming 
in ; and they would sit down and listen with the greatest 
attention to what we were saying. Our discussion was very 
earnest, though I trust conducted in a Christian spirit. 
The people became more and more interested in hearing our 
discussion, and when we proposed to stop and commence our 
meeting, they earnestly begged us to proceed with our dis- 
cussion and let that be our meeting. We did so ; and spent 
the whole evening, I think very much to the satisfaction cf 
those present, and I trust to their permanent edification. 

After I bad been studying theology for a few months, and 
Mr. Gale's health was such that he was unable to preach; a 
Universalist minister came in and began to promulge his 
objectionable doctrines. The impenitent part of the com- 
munity seemed very much disposed to hear him, and finally 
people became so interested that there was a large number 
that seemed to be shaken in their minds, in regard to the 
commonly received views of the Bible. 

In this state of things, Mr. Gale, together with some of 
the elders of his church, desired me to address the people on 
the subject, and see if I could not reply to the arguments of 
the Universalist. The great effort of the Universalist was 
of course to show that sin did not deserve endless punish- 
ment. He inveighed against the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment as unjust, infinitely cruel and absurd. God was lo v e 
and how could a God of love punish men endlessly ? 

I arose in one of our evening meetings and said, "This 
Universalist preacher holds forth doctrines that are new to 
me, and I do not believe they are taught in the Bible. But 
I am going to examine the subject, and if I cannot show 
that his views are false, I will become a Universalist myself." 
I then appointed a meeting the next week, at which time 1 



HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION. 49 

proposed to deliver a lecture in opposition to his views. The 
Christian people were rather startled at my boldness in say- 
ing that I would be a TJniversalist, if I could not prove that 
his doctrines were false. However, I felt sure that I could. 

When the evening came for my lecture, the house waa 
crowded. I took up the question of the justice of endless 
oumshment, and discussed it through that and the next 
evening. Tnere was general satisfaction with the presenta- 
tion. 

The TJniversalist himself found that the people were con- 
vinced that he was wrong, and then he took another tack. 
Mr. Gale, together with his school of theology, maintained 
that the atonement of Christ was the literal payment of the 
debt ot che elect, a suffering of just what they deserved to 
suffer ; so that the elect were saved upon principles of exact 
justice ; Christ, so far 91 they were concerned, having fully 
answered the demands of the law. The TJniversalist seized 
upon this view, assuming that this was the real nature of the 
atonement. He had only to prove that the atonement was 
made for all men, and then he could show that all men 
would be saved; because the debt of all mankind had been 
literally paid by the Lord Jesus Christ, and TJniversalism 
would follow on the very ground of justice; for God could 
not justly punish those whose debt was paid. 

I saw, and the people saw — those of them who under- 
stood Mr. Gale's position, that the TJniversalist had got 
him into a tight place. "For it was easy to prove that the 
atonement was made for all mankind ; and if the nature and 
value of the atonement were as Mr. Gale held, universal 
salvation was an inevitable result. 

This again carried the people away ; and Mr. Gale sent 
for me and requested that I should go on and reply to him 
further. He said he understood that the question on the 
grour.d of law was settled ; but now I must auswer his argu- 
ment upon the ground of the Gospel. I said to him, "Mr. 
Gale, I cannot do it without contradicting youi views on 
3 



50 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FIKK1T. 

that subject, and setting them all aside. With yonr viewi 
of the atonement he cannot be answered. For if yon have 
the right view of the atonement, the people can easily see 
that the Bible proves that Christ died for all men, for the 
whole world of sinners ; and therefore nnless yon will allow 
me to sweep yonr views of the atonement all away, I can say 
nothing to any purpose." "Well/' said Mr. Gale, "it 
will never do to let the thing remain as it is. You may say 
what you please ; only go on and answer him in your own 
way. If I find it necessary to preach on the subject of the 
atonement, I shall be obliged to contradict you." "Very 
well," said I, "let me but show my views, and I can answer 
the Universalist ; and you may say to the people afterward 
what you please. " 

I then appointed to lecture on the Universalist's argu- 
ment founded on the Gospel. I delivered two lectures upon 
the atonement. In these I think I fully succeeded in show- 
ing that the atonement did not consist in the literal payment 
of the debt of sinners, in the sense which the Universalist 
maintained ; that it simply rendered the salvation of all men 
possible, and did not of itself lay God under obligation to 
save anybody ; that it was not true that Christ suffered just 
what those for whom he died deserved to suffer ; that no 
such thing as that was taught in the Bible, and no such 
thing was true ; that, on the contrary, Christ died simply to 
remove an insurmountable obstacle out of the way of God's 
forgiving sinners, so as to render it possible for him to pro- 
claim a universal amnesty, inviting all men to repent, to 
believe in Christ, and to accept salvation ; that instead of 
A having satisfied retributive justice, and borne just what 
sinners deserve, Christ had only satisfied public justice, by 
honoring the law, both in his obedience and death, thus ren- 
dering it safe for God to pardon sin, to pardon the sins of 
any man and of all men who would repent and believe in 
him. I maintained that Christ, in his atonement, merely did 
that which was necessary as a condition of the forgivenesi 



HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION - . 61 

of sin ; and not that which cancelled sin, in the sense of 

literally paying the indebtedness of sinners. 

This answered the TIniversalist, and put a stop to any 
farther proceedings or excitement on that subject. But 
what was very striking, these lectures secured the conversion 
of the young woman for whom, as I have said, such earnest 
and agonizing prayer had been offered. This was very 
astonishing to Mr. Gale ; for the evidence was that the 
Spirit of God had blessed my views of the atonement. This, 
I think, staggered him considerably in regard to the correct- 
ness of his view. I could see, in conversing with him, that 
he felt very much surprised that this view of the atonement 
should be instrumental in converting that young woman. 

After many such discussions with Mr. Gale in pursuing 
my theological studies, the presbytery was finally called 
together at Adams to examine me ; and, if they could agree 
to do so, to license me to preach the Gospel. This was in 
March, 1824. I expected a severe struggle with them in my 
examination ; but I found them a good deal softened. The 
manifest blessing that had attended my conversations, and 
my teaching in prayer and conference meetings, and in these 
lectures of which I have spoken, rendered them, I think, 
more cautious than they would otherwise have been in getting 
into any controversy with me. In the course of my examina- 
tion they avoided asking any such questions as would nat- 
urally bring my views into collision with theirs. 

When they had examined me, they voted unanimously to 
license me to preach. Unexpectedly to myself they asked 
me if I received the confession of faith of the Presbyterian 
church. I had not examined it — that is, the large work 
containing the catechism and confession. This had made 
no part of my study. I replied that I received it for sub- 
stance of doctrine, so far as I understood it. But I spoke in 
a way that plainly implied, I think, that I did not pretend 
to know much about it. However, I answered honestly, as 
I understood it at the time. They heard the trial sermons 



V 



*>2 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

whicli I had written, on texts which had been given me by 
the presbytery ; and went through with all the ordinary 
details of such an examination. 

At this meeting of presbytery I first saw Kev. Daniel 
Nash, who is generally known as "Father IsTash." He was 
a member of the presbytery. A large congregation was 
assembled to hear my examination. I got in a little late, 
and saw a man standing in the pulpit speaking to the 
people, as I supposed. He looked at me, I observed, as I 
came in ; and was looking at others as they passed up the 
aisles. 

As soon as I reached my seat and listened, I observed 
that he was praying. I was surprised to see him looking all 
over the house, as if he were talking to the people ; while in 
fact he was praying to God. Of course it did not sound to 
me much like prayer ; and he was at that time indeed in a 
very cold and back-slidden state. I shall have occasion 
frequently to mention him hereafter. 

The next Sabbath after I was licensed, I preached for 
Mr. Gale. When I came out of the pulpit he said to me. 
"Mr. Finney, I shall be very much ashamed to have it 
known, wherever you go, that you studied theology with 
me." This was so much like him, and like what he had 
repeatedly said to me, that I made little or no reply to 
it. I held down my head, and felt discouraged, and went 
my way. 

He afterwards viewed this subject very differently ; and 
told me that he blessed the Lord that in all our discussion, 
and in all he had said to me, he had not had the least 
nfluenoe to change my views. He very frankly confessed 
nis error m toe manner in which he had dealt with me ' 
and said that if I had listened to him " should have been 
ruined as a minister. 

The fact is that Mr. Gale's education for the ministry 
had been entirely defective. He had imbibed a set of opin- 
ions, both theological and practical, that were a strait 



HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION. 55 

jacket to him. He could accomplish very little or nothing 
if he carried out his own principles. I had the use of his 
library, and searched it thoroughly on all the questions of > 
theology, which came up for examination ; and the more I 
examined the books, the more was I dissatisfied. 

I had been used to the close and logical reasonings of the 
judges, as I found them reported in our law works ; but when 
I went to Mr. Gale's old school library, I found almost 
nothing proved to my satisfaction. I am sure it was not 
because I was opposed to the truth, but I was dissatisfied 
because the positions of these theological authors were 
unsound and not satisfactorily sustained. They often seemed 
to me to state one thing and prove another, and frequently 
fell short of logically proving anything. 

I finally said to Mr. Gale, " If there is nothing better 
than I find in your library to sustain the great doctriues 
taught by our church, I must be an infidel." And I have 
always believed that had not the Lord led me to see the fal- 
lacy of those arguments, and to see the real truth as pre- 
sented in the Scriptures ; especially had he not so revealed y 
himself to me personally that I could not doubt the truth of the 
Christian religion, I should have been forced to be an infidel. 

At first, being no theologian, my attitude in respect to 
his peculiar views was rather that of negation or denial, than 
that of opposing any positive view to his. I said, " Youi 
positions are not proved." I often said, "They are unsus- 
ceptible of proof." So I thought then, and so I think now. 
But after. all, he would insist upon it that I ought to defei 
to the opinions of the great and good men who, after much 
consultation and deliberation, had come to those conclusions ; 
that it was unbecoming in me, a young man, bred to the 
profession of law, and having no theological education, to 
oppose my views to those of the great men and profound 
theologians, whose opinions I found in his library. He 
urged that if I persisted in having my intelligence satisfied, 
on those points, with argument, I should become an infideL 



54 MEMOIKS OF CHAKLES G. FINNEY. 

He believed that the decisions of the church ought to be 
respected by a young man like myself, and that I should 
surrender my own judgment to that of others of superior 
wisdom. 

Now I could not deny that there was a good deal of force 
in this ; but still I found myself utterly unable to accept 
doctrine on the ground of authority. If I tried to accept 
those doctrines as mere dogmas, I could not do it. I could 
uot be honest in doing it ; I could not respect myself in 
doing it. Often when I left Mr. Gale, I would go to my 
room and spend a long time on my knees oyer my Bible. 
Indeed I read my Bible on my knees a great deal during 
those days of conflict, beseeching the Lord to teach me his 
own mind on those points. I had no where to go but 
directly to the Bible, and to the philosophy or workings of 
my own mind, as revealed in consciousness. 

My views took on a positive type but slowly. At first 
I found myself unable to receive his peculiar views ; and 
then gradually formed views of my own in opposition to 
them, which appeared to me to be unequivocally taught in 
the Bible. 

But not only were Mr. Gale's theological views such as 
to cripple his usefulness ; his practical views were equally 
erroneous. Hence he prophesied, with respect to my views, 
every kind of evil. He assured me, that the Spirit of God 
would not approve and cooperate with my labors ; that if 1 
addressed men as I told him I intended to, they would not 
hear me ; that if they came for a short time, they would 
soon become offended, and my congregation would all fall 
off ; that unless I wrote my sermons I should immediately 
become stale and uninteresting, and could not satisfy the 
people ; and that I should divide and scatter instead of 
building up the congregation, wherever I preached. Indeed 
I found his views to be almost the reverse of those which I 
entertained, on all such practical questions relating to my 
duty as a minister. 



HIS DOCTEItfAL EDUCATION. 50 

I do not wonder, and did not at the time, that lie was 
shocked at my views and purposes in relation to preaching 
the Gospel. With his education it could not be otherwise. 
He followed out his views with very little practical result. 
I pursued mine, and by the blessing of God the results *ere 
the opposite of those which he predicted. When this fact 
came out clearly, it completely upset his theological and 
practical ideas as a minister. This result, as I shall mention 
in its place, at first annihilated his hope as a Christian, and 
fmally made him quite another man as a minister. 

But there was another defect in brother Gale's edu- 
cation, which I regarded as fundamental. If he had ever 
been converted to Christ, he had failed to receive that 
divine anointing of the Holy Ghost that would make him a 
power in the pulpit and in society, for the conversion of 
souls. He had fallen short of receiving the baptism of the 
Holy Ghost, which is indispensable to ministerial success. 

When Christ commissioned his apostles to go and preach, 
he told them to abide at Jerusalem till they were endued 
with power from on high. This power, as every one knows, 
was the baptism of the Holy Ghost poured out upon them 
on the day of Pentecost. This was an indispensable qualifi- 
cation for success in their ministry. I did not suppose then, 
nor do I now, that this baptism was simply the power to work 
miracles. The power to work miracles and the gift of 
tongues were given as signs to attest the reality of their 
divine commission. But the baptism itself was a divine 
purifying, an anointing bestowing on them a divine illumi- 
nation, filling them with faith, and love, with peace and v 
power ; so that their words were made sharp in the hearts 
of God's enemies, quick and powerful, like a two-edged 
sword. This is an indispensable qualification of a success- 
ful ministry; and I have often been surprised and pained 
that to this day so little stress is laid upon this qualification 
for preaching Christ to a sinful world. Without the direct 
teaching of the Holy Spirit, a man will never make much 



»b MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

progress in preaching the Gospel. The fact is, unless he 
i can preach tlie Gospel as an experience, present religion to 
mankind as a matter of consciousness, his speculations and 
theories will come far short of preaching the Gospel. 

I have said that Mr. Gale afterward concluded that lie 
had not "been converted. That he was a sincere, good man, 
m the sense of honestly holding his opinions, I do not doubt. 
But he was sadly defective in his education, theologically, 
philosophically and practically ; and so far as I could learn, 
his spiritual state, he had not the peace of the Gospel, when 
I sat under his ministry. 

Let not the reader, from anything that I have said, sup- 
pose that I did not love Mr. Gale, and highly respect him. 
I did both. He and I remained the firmest friends, so far 
as I know, to the day of his death. I have said what I have 
in relation to his views, because I think it applicable, I am 
afraid I must say, to many of the ministers even of the 
present day. I think that their practical views of preaching 
the Gospel, whatever their theological views may be, are very 
- defective indeed ; and that their want of unction, and of the 
power of the Holy Ghost, is a radical defect in their prepara- 
tion for the ministry. I say not this censoriously ; but still 
I would record it as a fact which has long been settled in my 
mind, and over which I have long had occasion to mourn. 
And as I have become more and more acquainted with the 
ministry in this and other countries, I am persuaded that, 
with all their training, and discipline, and education, there 
is a lack in practical views of the best way of presenting the 
Gospel to men, and in adapting means to secure the end ; 
and especially in their want of the power of the Holy Ghost. 
I have spoken at considerable length of my protracted 
controversy with my theological teacher, Mr. Gale. Upon 
reflection I think that I should state a little more definitely 
some of the points upon which we had so much discussion. 
I could not receive that theological fiction of imputation. 
I will state, as nearly as I can, the exact ground that he 



HIS DOCTRINAL EDUCATION. 57 

maintained and insisted upon. First, he maintained that 
the guilt of Adam's first transgression is literally imputed to 
all his posterity ; so that they are justly sentenced and 
exposed to eternal damnation for Adam's sin. Secondly, 
he maintained that we received from Adam, by natural 
generation, a nature wholly sinful, and morally corrupt in 
every faculty of soul and body ; so that we are totally unable 
to perform any act acceptable to God, and are necessitated 
by our sinful nature to transgress his law, in every action of 
our lives. And this, he insisted, is the estate into which all 
men fell by the first sin of Adam. For this sinful nature, 
thus received from Adam by natural generation, all man- 
kind are also sentenced to, and are deserving of eternal 
damnation. Then, thirdly, in addition to this, he main- 
tained that we are all justly condemned and sentenced to 
eternal damnation for our own unavoidable transgression of 
the law. Thus we find ourselves justly subject to a triple 
eternal damnation. 

Then the second branch of this wonderful imputation is 
as follows : The sin of all the elect, both original and actual 
— that is, the guilt of Adam's sin, together with the guilt 
of their sinful nature, and also guilt of their personal 
transgressions, are all literally imputed to Christ ; and 
therefore the divine government regarded him as an em- 
bodiment of all the sins and guilt of the elect, and treated 
him accordingly ; that is, the Father punished the Son 
precisely as much as all the elect deserved. Hence their 
debt being thus fully discharged by the punishment of 
Christ, they are saved upon principles of " exact justice." 

The third branch of this wonderful theological fiction ia 
as follows : First — The obedience of Christ to the divine law 
is literally imputed to the elect ; so that in him they are 
regarded as having always perfectly obeyed the law. 
Secondly — His death for them is also imputed to the elect ; 
so that in him they are regarded as having fully suffered all 
that they deserve on account of the guilt of Adam's gin 
3* 



V 



58 MEMOIBS OF CHAELES G. FI^KEl. 

imputed to them, and on account of their sinful nature, and 
also on account of all their personal transgressions. 
Thirdly — Thus by their surety the elect have first perfectly 
obeyed the law ; and then they have by and in their surety 
suffered the full penalty to which they were subject in con- 
sequence of the guilt of Adam's sin imputed to them, and 
also the guilt of their sinful nature, with all their blame- 
worthiness for their personal transgressions. Thus they 
have suffered in Christ, just as if they had not obeyed in 
him. He, first, perfectly obeys for them, which obedience 
is strictly imputed to them, so that they are regarded by the 
government of God as having fully obeyed in their surety , 
secondly, he has suffered for them the penalty of the law, 
just as if no obedience had been rendered ; thirdly, after 
the law has been doubly satisfied, the elect are required to 
repent as if no satisfaction had been rendered ; fourthly, 
payment in full having been rendered twice over, the dis- 
charge of the elect is claimed to be an act of infinite grace. 
Thus the elect are saved by grace on principles of justice, 
so that there is strictly no grace or mercy in our forgiveness, 
but the whole grace of our salvation is found in the obedi 
ence and sufferings of Christ. 

It follows that the elect may demand their discharge on 
the score of strict justice. They need not pray for pardon 
01 forgiveness ; it is all a mistake to do so. This inference 
is my own ; but it follows, as every one can see, irresistibly, 
from what the confession of faith itself asserts, that the 
elect are saved on principles of exact and perfect justice. 

I found it impossible to agree with Mr. Gale on these 
points. I could not but regard and treat this whole question 
of imputation as a theological fiction. Upon these points 
we had constant discussion, in some shape, during the whole 
course of my study. 

I do not recollect that Mr. Gale ever insisted that the 
confession of faith taught these principles, as I learned that 
it did when I came to study it. I was not aware that tho 



HIS DOCTEUU-L EDUCATION. 59 

rules of the presbytery required them to ask a candidate if 
he accepted the Presbyterian confession of faith. As soon 
as I learned what were the unambiguous teachings of the 
confession of faith upon these points, I did not hesitate on 
all suitable occasions to declare my dissent from them. I 
repudiated and exposed them. "Wherever I found that any 
class of persons were hidden behind these dogmas, I did not 
hesitate to demolish them, to the best of my ability. 

I have not caricatured these positions of Mr. Gale, but 
have stated them, as nearly as I can, in the very language in 
which he would defend them, when I presented them to him 
in controversy. He did not pretend that they were rational, 
or that they would bear reasoning upon. Hence he insisted 
that my reasoning would lead me into infidelity. But I 
insisted that our reason was given us for the very purpose 
of enabling us to justify the ways of God ; and that no such 
fiction of imputation could by any possibility be true. 

Of course there were many other points that were so re- 
lated to these as necessarily to come under discussion, upon 
which we had a good deal of controversy, But our contro- 
versy always turned upon this as the foundation. If man 
had a sinful nature, then regeneration must consist in a 
change of nature. If man's nature was sinful, the influence 
of the Holy Spirit that must regenerate him, must be physi- 
cal and not moral. If man had a sinful nature, there was no 
adaptation in the gospel to change his nature, and conse- 
quently no connection, in religion, between means and end. 

This brother Gale sternly held ; and consequently in his 
preaching he never seemed to expect, nor even to aim at 
converting anybody, by any sermon that I ever heard him 
preach. And yet he was an able preacher as preaching was 
then estimated. The fact is, these dogmas were a perfect 
strait- jacket to him. If he preached repentance, he must 
be sure before he sat down, to leave the impression on hia 
people that they could not repent. If he called them to 
believe he must be sure to inform them that, until their ira- 



60 MEMOIB8 OF CHAKLES Q. FINNEY. 

ture was changed by the Holy Spirit, faith was impossible to 
them. And so his orthodoxy was a perfect snare to himself 
and to his hearers. I could not receive it. I did not so 
understand my Bible ; nor could he make me see that it 
was taught in the Bible. 

When I came to read the confession of faith, and saw 
Jic passages that were quoted to sustain these peculiar posi- 
tions, I was absolutely ashamed of it. I could not feel any 
respect for a document that would undertake to impose on 
mankind such dogmas as those, sustained, for the most part, 
by passages of Scripture that were totally irrelevant ; and 
not in a single instance sustained by passages which, in t 
court of law, would have been considered at all conclusive. 
But the presbytery, so far a3 I know, were all of one way o4 
thinking at that time. They subsequently, however, I be- 
lieve, all gave in ; and when Mr. Gale changed his views. 
I heard no more from any of the members of the presbytery 
in defence of those yiem 



CHAPTER V. 

PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY. 

HAVING had no regular training for the ministry I did 
not expect or desire to labor in large towns or cities, 
or minister to cultivated congregations. I intended to go 
into the new settlements and preach in school-houses, and 
barns, and groves, as best I could. Accordingly, soon after 
being licensed to preach, for the sake of being introduced 
to the region where I proposed to labor, I took a commis- 
sion, for six months, from a female missionary society lo- 
cated in Oneida county. I went into the northern part of 
Jefferson county, and began my labors at Evans' Mills, in 
the town of Le Eay. 

At this place I found two churches, a small Congrega- 
tional church without a minister, and a Baptist church with 
a minister. I presented my credentials to the deacons of 
the church. They were very glad to see me, and I soon 
began my labors. They had no meeting-house ; but the 
two churches worshipped alternately in a large stone school- 
house, large enough, I believe, to accommodate all the 
children in the village. The Baptists occupied the house one 
Sabbath, and the Congregationalists the next ; so that I 
could have the house but every other Sabbath, but could use 
it evenings as often as I pleased. I therefore divided my 
Sabbaths between Evans' Mills and Antwerp, a village some 
sixteen or eighteen miles still farther north. 

I will relate first some facts that occurred at Evans* 
Mills, during that season ; and then give a brief narrative 
of the occurrences at Antwerp. But as I preached alter- 
nately in these two places, these facts were occurring from 



62 MEMOIKS OF CHAKLES G. EI^tfET. 

week to week in one or the other of these localities. 1 
began, as I said, to preach in tne stone school-house at 
Evans' Mills. The people were very much interested, and 
thronged the place to hear me preach. They extolled my 
preaching; and the little Congregational church became 
Ycry much interested, and hopeful that they should be built 
up, and that there would be a revival. More or less con- 
victions occurred under every sermon that I preached ; but 
still no general conviction appeared upon the public mind. 

I was very much dissatisfied with this state of things ; 
and at one of my evening services, after having preached 
there two or three Sabbaths, and several evenings in the 
week, I told the people at the close of my sermon, that I 
had come there to secure the salvation of their souls ; that 
my preaching, I knew, was highly complimented by them ; 
but that, after all, I did not come there to please them but 
to bring them to repentance ; that it mattered not to me 
how well they were pleased with my preaching, if after all 
they rejected my Master ; that something was wrong, either 
in me or in them ; that the kind of interest they manifested 
in my preaching was doing them no good ; and that I could 
not spend my time with them unless they were going to 
receive the Gospel. I then, quoting the words of Abraham's 
servant, said to them, " Now will you deal kindly and truly 
with my master ? If you will, tell me ; and if not, tell me, 
that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. " I turned 
this question over, and pressed it upon them, and insisted 
upon it that I must know what course they proposed to 
pursue. If they did not purpose to become Christians, and 
enlist in the service of the Saviour, I wanted to know it that 
I might not labor with them in vain. I said to them, " You 
admit that what I preach is the Gospel. You profess to 
believe it. "Now will you receive it ? Do you mean to 
receive it, or do you intend to reject it ? You must 
have some mind about it. And now I have a right to take 
it for granted, inasmuch as vou admit that I have preached 



PBEACHIffG AS A MISSIONARY. 63 

the truth, that you acknowledge your obligation at once to 
become Christians. This obligation you do not leny ; but 
will you meet the obligation ? Will you discharge it ? Will 
you do what you admit you ought to do ? If you will not, 
tell me ; and if you will, tell me, that I may turn to the right 
hand or to the left." 

After turning this over till I saw they understood it well, 
and looked greatly surprised at my manner of putting it, I 
then said to them, "Now I must know your minds, and I 
want that you who have made up your minds to become 
Christians, and will give your pledge to make your peace 
with God immediately, should rise up ; but that, on the con- 
trary, those of you who are resolved that you will not become 
Christians, and wish me so to understand, and wish Christ 
so to understand, should sit still." After making this plain, 
so that I knew that they understood it, I then said : " You 
who are now willing to pledge to me and to Christ, that you 
will immediately make your peace with God, please rise up. 
On the contrary, you that mean that I should understand 
that you are committed to remain in your present attitude, 
not to accept Christ — those of you that are of this mind, may 
sit still. " They looked at one another and at me, and all 
sat still, just as I expected. 

After looking around upon them for a few moments, I 
said, "Then yon are committed. You ha7e taken your 
stand. You have rejected Christ and his Gospel ; and ye 
are witnesses one against the other, and God is witness 
against you all. This is explicit, and you may remember as 
long as you live, that you have thus publicly committed 
yourselves against the Saviour, and said, i We will not have 
this man, Christ Jesus, to reign over us.' " This is the pur- 
port of what I urged upon them, and as nearly in these 
words as I can recollect. 

When I thus pressed them they began to look angry, and 
arose, en masse, and started for the door. When they began 
to move, I oaused. As soon as I stopped speaking thej 



64 MEMOIBS OF CHABLES G. FINNEY. 

turned to see why I did not go on. I said, "I am sorry for 
you ; and will preach to you once more, the Lord willing, 
to-morrow night." 

They all left the house except Deacon McC who was 

a deacon of the Baptist church in that place. I saw that 
the Congregationalists were confounded. They were few in 
number and very weak in faith. I presume that every 
member of both churches who was present, except Deacon 

McC , was taken aback, and concluded that the matter 

was all over; — that by my imprudence I had dashed and 

ruined all hopeful appearances. Deacon McC came up 

and took me by the hand and smiling said, "Brother Fin- 
ney, you have got them. They cannot rest under this, rely 
upon it. The brethren are all discouraged," said he ; " but 
I am not. I believe you have done the very thing that 
needed to be done, and that we shall see the results." I 
thought so myself, of course. I intended to place them 
in a position which, upon reflection, would make them 
tremble in view of what they had done. But for that eve- 
ning and the next day they were full of wrath. Deacon 

McC and myself agreed upon the spot, to spend the 

next day in fasting and prayer — separately in the morning, 
and together in the afternoon. I learned in the course of 
the day that the people were threatening me — to ride me on 
a rail, to tar and feather me, and to give me a walking 
paper, as they said. Some of them cursed me ; and said 
that I had put them under oath, and made them swear that 
they would not serve God ; that I had drawn them into a 
eolemn and public pledge to reject Christ and his Gospel. 
This was no more than I expected. In the afternoon Deacon 

McC and I went into a grove together, and spent the 

whole afternoon in prayer. Just at evening the Lord gave 
us great enlargement, and promise of victory. Both of us 
felt assured that we had prevailed with God ; and that, that 
night, the power of God would be revealed among the people. 

As the time came for meeting, we left the woods and 



PREACHIKG AS A MISSIONARY. 66 

went to the village. The people were already thronging to 
the place of worship ; and those that had not already gone, 
seeing us go through the village, turned out of their stores 
and places of business, or threw down their ball clubs where 
they were playing upon the green, and packed the house 
to its utmost capacity. 

I had not taken a thought with regard to what I should 
preach ; indeed, this was common with me at that time. 
The Holy Spirit was upon me, and I felt confident that when 
the time came for action I should know what to preach. 
As soon as I found the house packed, so that no more could 
get in, I arose, and I think, without any formal introduction 
of singing*, opened upon them with these words : " Say ye to 
the righteous that it shall be well with him ; for they shall 
eat the fruit of their doings. Wo to the wicked ! it shall be 
ill with him ; for the reward of his hands shall be given 
him." The Spirit of God came upon me with such power, 
that it was like opening a battery upon them. For more 
than an hour, and perhaps for an hour and a half, the word 
of God came through me to them in a manner that I could 
see was carrying all before it. It was a fire and a hammer 
breaking the rock ; and as the sword that was piercing to 
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. I saw that a 
general conviction was spreading over the whole congrega- 
tion. Many of them could not hold up their heads. I did 
not call that night for any reversal of the action they had 
taken the night before, nor for any committal of themselves 
in any way ; but took it for granted, during the whole of 
the sermon, that they were committed against the Lord. 
Then I appointed another meeting, and dismissed the con- 
gregation. 

As the people withdrew, I observed a woman in the 
arms of some of her friends, who were supporting her, in 
one part of the house ; and I went to see what was the 
matter, supposing that she was in a fainting fit. But I 
soon found that she was not fainting, but that she could 



66 MEMOIKS OF CHARLES Q. FltfHET. 

not speak. There was a look of the greatest anguish in hex 
face, and she made me understand that she could not speak. 
I advised the women to take her home, and pray with her, 
and see what the Lord would do. They informed me that 

she was Miss G , sister of the well-known missionary, 

and that she was a member of the church in good standing 
and had been for several years. 

That evening, instead of going to my usual lodgings, I 
accepted an invitation, and went home with a family where 
I had not before stopped over night. Early in the morning 
I found that I had been sent for to the place where I was 
supposed to be, several times during the night, to visit fami- 
lies where there were persons under awful distress of mind. 
This led me to sally forth among the people, and everywhere 
I found a state of wonderful conviction of sin and alarm for 
their souls. 

After lying in a speechless state about sixteen hours, Miss 

G 's mouth was opened, and a new song was given her. 

She was taken from the horrible pit of miry clay, and her 
feet were set upon a rock ; and it was true that many saw it 
and feared. It occasioned a great searching among the mem- 
bers of the church. She declared that she had been entirely 
leceived ; that for eight years she had been a member of 
the church, and thought she was a Christian, but, during the 
sermon the night before, she saw that she had never known 
the true God ; and when his character arose before her mind 
as it was then presented, her hope " perished," as she ex- 
pressed it, " like a moth." She said, such a view of the 
holiness of God was presented, that like a great wave it 
swept her away from her standing, and annihilated hei hope 
in a moment. 

I found at this place a number of deists ; some of them 
men of high standing in the community. One of them was 
a keeper of a hotel in the village ; and others were respect- 
able men, and of more than average intelligence. But they 
eeemed banded together to resist the revival. When I 



PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY. 67 

ascertained exactly the ground they took, I preached a ser- 
mon to meet their wants ; for on the Sabbath they would 
ittend my preaching. I took this for my text : " Suffer me 
a little, and I will show you that I have yet to speak on 
God's behalf. I will bring my knowledge from afar, and I 
will ascribe righteousness to my Maker." I went over the 
whole ground, so far as I understood their position ; and 
God enabled me to sweep it clean. As soon as I had finished 
and dismissed the meeting, the hotel keeper, who was the 
leader among them, came frankly up to me, and taking me 
by the hand, said, "Mr. Finney, I am convinced. You 
have met and answered all my difficulties. Now I want you 
to go home with me, for I want to converse with you." I 
heard no more of their infidelity ; and if I remember right, 
that class of men were nearly, or quite, all converted. 

There was one old man in this place, who was not only 
an infidel, but a great railer at religion. He was very angry 
at the revival movement. I heard every day of his railing 
and blaspheming, but took no public notice of it. He re- 
fused altogether to attend meeting. But in the midst of his 
opposition, and when his excitement was great, while sitting 
one morning at the table, he suddenly fell out of his chair in 
a fit of apoplexy. A physician was immediately called, who, 
after a brief examination, told him that he could live but a 
very short time ; and that if he had anything to say, he 
must say it at once. He had just strength and time, as I 
was informed, to stammer out, "Don't let Finney pray 
over my corpse." This was the last of his opposition in 
that place. 

During that revival my attention was called to a sick 
woman in the community, who had been a member of a 
Baptist church, and was well-known in the place; but 
people had no confidence in her piety. She was fast failing 
with the consumption ; and they begged me to call and sea 
her. I went, and had a long conversation with her. She 
told me a dream which she had when she was a girl, which 



68 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

made her think that her sins were forgiven. Upon that 6hc 
had settled down, and no argument could move her. I tried 
to persuade her, that there was no evidence of her conversion, 
in that dream. I told her plainly that her acquaintances 
affirmed that she had never lived a Christian life, and hail 
never evinced a Christian temper ; and I had come to try if 
persuade her to give up her false hope, and see if she woulf 
not now accept Jesus Christ that she might be saved. . 
dealt with her as kindly as I could, but did not fail to makt 
her understand what I meant. But she took great offence , 
and after I went away complained that I tried to get away 
her hope and distress her mind ; that I was cruel to try to 
distress a woman as sick as she was, in that way — to try to 
disturb the repose of her mind. She died not long after- 
ward. But her death has often reminded me of Dr. Nel- 
son's book called, "The Cause and Cure of Infidelity." 
When this woman came to be actually dying, her eyes were 
opened ; and before she left the world she seemed to have 
such a glimpse of the character of God, and of what heaven 
was, and of the holiness required to dwell there, that she 
shrieked with agony, and exclaimed that she was going to 
hell. In this state, as I was informed, she died. 

While at this place, one afternoon, a Christian brother 
called on me and wished me to visit his sister, who, as he 
informed me, was fast failing with consumption, and was a 
Universalist. Her husband, he said, was a Universalist, and 
had led her into Universalism. He said he had not asked 
me to go and see her when her husband was at home, because 
he feared that he would abuse me ; as he was determined 
that his wife's mind should not be disturbed on the question 
of universal salvation. I went, and found her not at all at 
rest in her views of Universalism ; and during my conversa- 
tion with her, she gave up these views entirely, and appeared 
to embrace the Gospel of Christ. I believe she held fast to 
this hope in Christ till she died. 

At evening her husband returned, and learned from her- 



PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY. 69 

geJf wiiat had taken place. He was greatly enraged, and 
swore he would " kill Finney." As I learned afterward, he 
armed himself with a loaded pistol, and that night went to 
meeting where I was to preach. Of this, however, I knew 
nothing at the time. The meeting that evening was in a 
school-house out of the village. The house was very much 
packed, almost to suffocation. I went on to preach with all 
my might ; and almost in the midst of my discourse I saw a 
powerful looking man, about in the middle of the house, fall 
from his seat. As he sunk down he groaned, and then cried 
or shrieked out, that he was sinking to hell. He repeated 
that several times. The people knew who he was, but he 
was a stranger to me. I think I had never seen him before. 
Of course this created a great excitement. It broke up my 
preaching ; and so great was his anguish that we spent the 
rest of our time in praying for him. When the meeting was 
dismissed his friends helped him home. The next morning 
I inquired for him ; and found that he had spent a sleepless 
night, in great anguish of mind, and that at the early dawn 
he had gone forth, they knew not whither. He was not 
heard from till about ten o'clock in the morning. I was 
passing up the street, and saw him coming, apparently from 
a grove at some distance from the village. He was on the 
opposite side of the street when I first saw him, and coming 
toward me. When he recognized me, he came across the 
street to meet me. When he came near enough, I saw that 
his countenance was all in a glow. I said to him, ' ' Good 

morning Mr. , " Good morning," he replied. "And," 

said I, "how do you feel in your mind this morning?" 
" Oh, I do not know," he replied ; " I have had an awfully 
distressed night. But I could not pray there in the house ; 
and I thought if I could get alone, where I could pour out; 
my voice with my heart, I could pray. In the morning I 
went into the woods ; but when I got there," said he, " I 
found I could not pray. I thought I could give myself to 
God ; but I could not. I tried, and tried, till I was discour* 



70 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FINNEY. 

aged," he continued. " Finally I saw that it was of no use , 
and I told the Lord that I found myself condemned and lost ; 
that I had no heart to pray to him, and no heart to repent ; 
that I found I had hardened myself so much that I could 
not give my heart to him, and therefore I must leave the 
whole question to him. I was at his disposal, and could 
not ohject to his doing with me just as it seemed good in 
his eyes, for I had no claim to his favor at all. I left the 
question of my salvation or damnation wholly with the 
Lord." "Well, what followed?" I inquired. "Why," 
said he, " I found I had lost all my conviction. I got up 
and came away, and my mind was so still and quiet that I 
found the Spirit of God was grieved away, and I had lost my 
conviction. "But," said he, "when I saw you my heart 
began to burn and grow hot within me ; and instead of feel- 
ing as if I wanted to avoid you, I ielt so drawn that I came 
across the street to see you."' But I should have said that 
when he came near me, he leaped, and took me right up in 
his arms, and turned around once or twice, and then set me 
down. This preceded the conversation that I have just 
related. After a little further conversation I left him. He 
soon came into a state of mind that led him to indulge a 
hope. We heard no more of his opposition. 

At this place I again saw Father Nash, the man who 
prayed with his eyes open, at the meeting of presbytery, 
when I was licensed. After he was at presbytery he was 
taken with inflamed eyes ; and for several weeks was shut 
up in a dark room. He could neither read nor write, and, 
as I learned, gave himself up almost entirely to prayer. He 
had a terrible overhauling in his whole Christian experi* 
ence ; and as soon as he was able to see, with a double 
black veil before his face, he sallied forth to labor for souls. 

When he came to Evans' Mills he was full of the power 
of prayer. He was another man altogether from what he 
had been at any former period of his Christian life. I 
found that he had "a praying list," as he called it, of the 



PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY. 71 

names of persons whom he made subjects of prayer every 
day, and sometimes many times a day. And praying with 
him, and hearing him pray in meeting, I found that 
his gift of prayer was wonderful, and his faith almost 
miraculous. 

There was a man by the name of D , who kept a low 

tavern in a comer of the village, whose house was the resort 
of all the opposers of the revival. The bar-room was a 
place of blasphemy ; and he was himself a most profane, 
ungodly, abusive man. He went railing about the streets 
respecting the revival ; and would take particular pains to 
swear and blaspheme whenever he saw a Christian. One of 
the young converts lived almost across the way from him ; 
and he told me that he meant to sell and move out of that 
neighborhood, because every time he was out of doors and 

D saw him, he would come out and swear, and curse, 

and say every thing he could to wound his feelings. He had 
not, I think, been at any of our meetings. Of course he was 
ignorant of the great truths of religion, and despised the 
whole Christian enterprise. 

Father Nasji heard us speak of this Mr. D as " a 

hard case ; " and immediately put his name upon his 
praying list. He remained in town a day or two, and went 
on his way, having in view another field of labor. 

Not many days afterward, as we were holding an evening 
meeting with a very crowded house, who should come in but 

this notorious D ? His entrance created a considerable 

movement in the congregation. People, feared that he had 
come in to make a disturbance. The fear and abhorrence o* 
him had become very general among Christians, I believe ; 3 
that when he came in, some of the people got up and retired. 
I knew his countenance, and kept my eye upon him. I 
very soon became satisfied that he had not come in to oppose, 
and that he was in great anguish of mind. He sat and 
writhed upon his seat, and was very uneasy. He soon arose, 
and tremblingly asked me if he might say a few words. I 



78 MEMOIRS 0* vflARLES G. FINNEY. 

told him that he might. He then proceeded to make one oi 
the most heart-broken confessions that I almost ever heard. 
His confession seemed to cover the whole ground of his 
treatment of God, and of his treatment of Christians, and of 
the revival, and of everything good. 

This thoroughly broke up the fallow ground in many 
hearts. It was the most powerful means that could have 

been used, just then, to give an impetus to the work. D 

soon came out and professed a hope, abolished all the revelry 
and profanity of his bar-room ; and from that time, as long 
as I staid there, and I know not how much longer, a prayer- 
meetiag was held in his bar-room nearly every night. 



OHAPTBB VL 

REVIVAL AT BVA^S' MILLS AND ITS RESULM 

A LITTLE way from the village of Evans 5 Mills, was a 
settlement of Germans, where there was a German 
church with several elders, and a considerable membership, 
but no minister, and no regular religious meetings. Once each 
year they were in the habit of having a minister come up 
from the Mohawk Valley, to administer the ordinances of 
baptism and the Lord's supper. He would catechise their 
children, and receive such of them as had made the required 
attainments in knowledge. This was the way in which 
they were made Christians. They were required to commit 
to memory the catechism, and to be able to answer certain 
doctrinal questions ; whereupon they were admitted to full 
communion in the church. After receiving the communion 
they took it for granted that they were Christians, and that 
all was safe. This is the way in which that church had 
been organized and continued. 

But mingling, as they did more or less, in the scenes that 
passed in the village, they requested me to go out there and 
preach. I consented ; and the first time I preached I took 
this text : " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 

The settlement turned out en masse; and the school- 
house where they worshiped was filled to its utmost capacity. 
They could understand English well. I began by showing 
what holiness is not. Under this head I took everything 
that they considered to be religion, and showed that it was 
not holiness at alL In the second place I showed what holi- 
ness is. I then showed, thirdly, what is intended by see- 
ing the Lord ; and then, why those that had no holiness 
4c 



74 MEMOIBS OF CHAELES G. EltftfEI. 

could never see the Lord — why they could never be admitted 
to his presence, and be accepted of him. I then concluded 
with such pointed remarks as were intended to make the 
subject go home. And it did go home by the power of the 
Holy Ghost. The sword of the Lord slew them on the right 
hand and on the left. 

In a very few days it was found that the whole settle- 
ment was under conviction ; elders of the church and all 
were in the greatest consternation, feeling that they had no 
holiness. At their request I appointed a meeting for inquiry, 
to give instruction to inquirers. This was in their harvest 
time. I held the meeting at one o'clock in the afternoon, 
and found the house literally packed. People had thrown 
down the implements with which they were gathering their 
harvest, and had come into the meeting. As many were 
assembled as could be packed in the house. 

I took a position in the centre of the house, as I could 
not move around among them ; and asked them questions, 
and encouraged them to ask questions. They became very 
much interested, and were very free in asking questions, 
and in answering the questions which I asked them. I 
seldom ever attended a more interesting or profitable meet- 
ing than that. 

I recollect that one woman came in late, and sat near the 
door. When I came to speak to her, I said, "You look 
unwell." "Yes," she replied, " I am very sick, I have been 
in bed until I came to meeting. But I cannot read; and I 
wanted to hear God's word so much that I got up and came 
to meeting." "How did you come?" I inquired. She re- 
plied, "I came on foot." "How far is it?" was the next 
inquiry. " We call it three miles," she said. On inquiry I 
found that she was under conviction of sin, and had a most 
remarkably clear apprehension of her character and position 
before God. She was soon after converted, and a remarka- 
ble convert she was. My wife said that she was one of the 
most remarkable women in prayer that she ever heard pray,* 



BBYIVAL AT EVAtfS' MILIfl. 75 

and that she repeated more Scripture in her prayers than any 
person she eyer heard. 

I addressed another, a tall dignified looking woman, and 
asked her what was the state of her mind. She replied im- 
mediately that she had given her heart to God; and went on 
to say that the Lord had taught her to read, since she had 
learned how to pray. I asked her what she meant. She 
said she never could read, and never had known her letters. 
But when she gave her heart to God, she was greatly dis- 
tressed that she could not read God's word. "But I 
thought," she said, "that Jesus could teach me to read; 
and I asked him if he would not please to teach me to read 
his word." Said she, "I thought when I had prayed that 
I could read. The children have a Testament, and I went 
and got it ; and I thought I could read what I had heard 
them read. But," said she, "I went over to the school 
ma'am, and asked her if I read right; and she said I did ; 
and since then," said she, " I can read the word of God for 
myself. " 

I said no more ; but thought there must be some mis 
take about this, as the woman appeared to be quite in earn- 
est, and quite intelligent in what she said. I took pains, 
afterwards to inquire of her neighbors about her. They 
gave her an excellent character ; and they all affirmed that 
it had been notorious that she could not read a syllable until 
after she was converted. I leave this to speak for itself ; 
there is no use in theorizing about it. Such, I think, were 
the undoubted facts. 

But the revival among the Germans resulted in the con- 
version of the whole church, I believe, and of nearly the 
whole community of Germans. It was one of the most 
interesting revivals that I ever witnessed. 

While I was laboring at this place, the presbytery 
were called together to ordain me, which they did. Both 
churches were so strengthened, and their numbers so 
greatly increased, that they soon went forward and built 



76 MBMOIBS OF CHAELES Q. PLtftfEY. 

each of them a commodious stone meeting-house, and I 
believe have had a healthy state of religion there since thai 
time. I have not been there for many years. 

I have only narrated some of the principal facts that I 
remember as connected with this revival. But I would far- 
ther say respecting it, that a wonderful spirit of prayer pre- 
vailed among Christians, and great unity of feeling. The 
little Congregational church, as soon as they saw the results 
of the next evening's preaching, recovered themselves ; for 
they had been scattered, discouraged, and confounded the 
night before. They rallied and took hold of the work as 
best they could ; and though a feeble and inefficient band, 
with one or two exceptions, still they grew in grace, and in 
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, during that revival. 

The German woman of whom I have spoken as being sick 
when she came to the meeting of inquiry, united with the Con- 
gregational church. I was present and received her to the 
church. A very affecting incident, I recollect, occurred at 
the time she gave a relation of her Christian experience. 
There was a mother in Israel belonging to that church, by the 
name of S — — , a very godly woman, of ripe age, and piety. 
We had been sitting for a long time, and hearing the narra- 
tion of the experience of one after another who came forward 
as candidates for admission to the church. At length this 
German' woman arose and related her experience. It was 
one of the most touching, childlike, interesting Christian 
experiences that I ever listened to. As she was going on 

with her narrative, I observed that old Mrs. S rose up 

p rom her place, and as the house was filled, crowded her way 

round as best she could. At first I supposed she was going 

out of doors. I was so occupied myself with the woman's 

narrative, that I was barely conscious of Mrs. S 's moving 

in that direction. As soon as she came near to where the 
woman stood relating her experience, she stepped forward, 
and threw her arms around her neck and burst into tears, 
and said, " God bless you, my dear sister ! God bless you P 



77 

The woman responded with all her heart ; and such a scene 
as followed, so unpremeditated, so natural, so childlike, so 
overflowing with love — it melted the congregation on every 
side to tears. They wept on each other's necks. It was too 
moving a scene to be described in words. 

The Baptist minister and I seldom met each other, though 
sometimes we were enabled to attend meeting together. He 
preached there but one half of the time, and I the other 
half ; consequently I was generally away when he was there, 
and he was generally absent when I was there. He was 
a good man, and worked as best he could to promote the 
revival. 

The doctrines preached were those which I have alway? 
preached as the Gospel of Christ. I insisted upon the vol- 
untary total moral depravity of the unregenerate ; and the 
unalterable necessity of a radical change of heart by the 
Holy Ghost, and by means of the truth. 

I laid great stress upon prayer as an indispensable condi- 
tion of promoting the revival. The atonement of Jesus 
Christ, his divinity, his divine mission, his perfect life, his 
vicarious death, his resurrection, repentance, faith, justifi- 
cation by faith, and all the kindred doctrines, were discussed 
as thoroughly as I was able, and pressed home, and were 
manifestly made efficacious by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

The means used were simply preaching, prayer and 
conference meetings, much private prayer, much personal 
conversation, and meetings for the instruction of earnest 
inquirers. These, and no other means, were used for the 
promotion of that work. There was no appearance of 
fanaticism, no bad spirit, no divisions, no heresies, no 
schisms. Neither at that time, nor certainly so long as 1 
was acquainted at that place, was there any result of that 
revival to be lamented, nor any feature of it that was of 
questionable effect. 

I have spoken of cases of intensified opposition to this 
revival. One circumstance, I found, had prepared the 



78 MEMOIKS OB CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

people for this opposition, and had greatly embittered it 
I found that region of country what, in the western phrase, 
would be called, "a burnt district." There had been, a few 
years previously, a wild excitement passing through that 
region, which they called a revival of religion, but which 
turned out to be spurious. I can give no account of it 
except what I heard from Christian people and others. It 
was reported as having been a very extravagant excitement ; 
and resulted in a reaction so extensive ana profound, as to 
leave the impression on many minds that religion was a 
mere delusion. A great many men seemed to be settled in 
that conviction. Taking what they had seen as a specimen 
of a revival of religion, they felt justified in opposing any 
thing looking toward the promoting of a revival. 

I found that it had left among Christian people some 
practices that were offensive, and calculated rather to excite 
ridicule than any serious conviction of the truth of religion. 
For example, in all their prayer meetings I found a custom 
prevailing like this: every professor of religion felt it a duty 
to testify for Christ. They must " take up the cross," and 
say something in meeting. One would rise and say in sub- 
stance: " I have a duty to perform which no one can perform 
for me. I arise to testify that religion is good; though I 
must confess that I do not enjoy it at present. I have noth- 
ing in particular to say, only to bear my testimony; and I 
hope you will all pray for me." This concluded, that person 
would sit down and another would rise and say, about to the 
same effect: "Religion is good ; I do not enjoy it; I have 
nothing else to say, but I must do my duty. I hope you will 
all pray for me." Thus the time would be occupied, and 
the meeting would pass off with very little that was more 
interesting than such remarks as these. Of course the 
ungodly would make sport of this. 

It was in fact ridiculous and repulsive. But the im- 
pression was so rooted in the public mind that this was the 
Way to hold a prayer and conference meeting, and that it 



BEYIVAL AT EVANS' MILLS. 79 

was the duty of every professor of religion, whenever an op- 
portunity was afforded, to give such testimony for God, that 
I was obliged, for the purpose of getting rid of it, to hold 
no such meetings. I appointed every meeting, consequently, 
for preaching. When we were assembled, I would begin by 
singing, and then would pray myself. I would then call on 
one or two others to pray, naming them. Then I would 
name a text, and talk for awhile. Then, when I saw that 
an impression was made, I would stop and ask one or two 
to pray that the Lord might fasten that on their minds. I 
would then proceed with my talk, and after a little, stop 
again and ask some one or two to pray. Thus I would pro- 
ceed, not throwing the meeting open at all for remarks on 
the part of the brethren and sisters. Then they would go 
away without being in bondage, feeling that they had neg- 
lected their duty in not bearing testimony for God. Thus 
most of our prayer-meetings were not so in name. As they 
were appointed for preaching, it was not expected that they 
would be thrown open for every one to speak ; and in this 
way I was enabled to overcome that silly method of holding 
meetings, that created so much mirth and ridicule on the 
part of the ungodly. 

After the revival took thorough hold in this place, and 
those things occurred that I have named, opposition en- 
tirely ceased so far as I could learn. I spent more than six 
months at this place and at Antwerp, laboring between the 
two places ; and for the latter part of the time I heard 
nothing of open opposition, 

I have spoken of the doctrines preached. I should add, 
that I was obliged to take much pains in giving instruction 
to inquirers. The practice had been, I believe, universal, to 
set anxious sinners to praying for a new heart, and to using 
means for their own conversion. The directions they re- 
ceived either assumed or implied that they were very will- 
ing to be Christians, and were taking much pains to per- 
suade God to convert them. I tried to make them under- 



80 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

stand that God was using the means with them, and not 
they with Him ; that God was willing, and they were un- 
willing ; that God was ready, and they were not ready. In 
short, I tried to shut them up to present faith and repent- 
ance, as the thing which God required of them, present and 
instant submission to his will, present and instant accept- 
ance of Christ. I tried to show them that all delay waa 
only an evasion of present duty ; that all praying for a new 
heart, was only trying to throw the responsibility of their 
conversion upon God ; and that all efforts to do duty, while 
they did not give their hearts to God, were hypocritical and 
delusive. 

During the whole six months that I labored in that 
region, I rode on horseback from town to town, and from 
settlement to settlement, in various directions, and preached 
the Gospel as I had opportunity. When I left Adams my 
health had run down a good deal. I had coughed blood ; 
and at the time I was licensed, my friends thought that I 
could live but a short time. Mr. Gale charged me, when I 
left Adams, not to attempt to preach more than once a week, 
and then to be sure not to speak more than half an hour at 
a time. But instead of this, I visited from house to house, 
attended prayer meetings, and preached and' labored every 
day, and almost every night, through the whole season. 
' Before the six months were completed my health was entirely 
restored, my lungs were sound, and I could preach two hours, 
and' two hours and a half, and longer, without feeling the 
least fatigue. I think my sermons generally averaged nearly 
or quite two hours. I preached out of doors ; I preached in 
barns ; I preached in school-houses ; and a glorious revival 
spread all over that new region of country. 

All through the earlier part of my ministry especially, I 
used to meet from ministers a great many rebuffs and re- 
proofs, particularly in respect to my manner of preaching. 
I have said that Mr. Gale, when I preached for him imme- 
diately after I was licensed, told me that, he should be 



KEVIVAL AT EVAN'S MILLS. 81 

chained to have any one know that I was a pupil of his. 
The fact is, their education had been so entirely different 
from mine, that they disapproved of my manner of preach- 
ing, very much. They would reprove me for illustrating my 
ideas by reference to the common affairs of men of different 
pursuits around me, as I was in the habit of doing. Among 
farmers and mechanics, and other classes of men, I borrowed 
my illustrations from their various occupations. I tried also 
to use such language as they would understand. I addressed 
them in the language of the common people. I sought to 
express all my ideas in few words, and in words that were 
in common use. 

Before I was converted I had a different tendency. In 
writing and speaking, I had sometimes allowed myself to use 
ornate language. But when I came to preach the Gospel, 
my mind was so anxious to be thoroughly understood, that 
I studied in the most earnest manner, on the one hand to 
avoid what was vulgar, and on the other to express my 
thoughts with the greatest simplicity of language. 

This was extremely contrary to the notions which at 
that time prevailed among ministers, and even yet prevail 
to a very great extent. In reference to my illustrations they 
would say, "Why don't you illustrate from events of ancient 
history, and ta&e a more dignified way of illustrating your 
ideas ? " To this, of course, I replied, that if my illustrations 
brought forward anything that was new and striking, the 
illustration itself would rather occupy the minds 7 of the peo- 
ple, than the truth which I wished to illustrate. And in 
respect to the simplicity of my language, I defended myself 
by saying, that my object was not to cultivate a style of 
oratory that should soar above the heads of the people, but 
to make myself understood ; and that therefore I would use 
any language adapted to this end, and that did not involve 
coarseness or vulgarity. 

About the time that I left Evans' Mills our presbytery 
met, and I attended the meeting. I left the revival work 
4* 



OV MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

at the particular request of some brethren, and went over tc 
the presbytery. The brethren had heard of my manner of 
preaching — those of them who had not heard me preach. 
The presbytery met in the morning, and went on with the 
transaction of business ; and after our recess for dinner, as 
we assembled in the afternoon, the mass of the people came 
together and filled the house. I had not the remotest 
thought of what was in the minds of the brethren of the 
presbytery. I therefore took my seat in the crowd, and 
waited for the meeting of the presbytery to be opened. 

As soon as the congregation was fairly assembled, one 
of the brethren arose and said : " The people have come 
together manifestly to hear preaching ; and I move that 
Mr. Finney preach a sermon." This was seconded, and 
unanimously carried. I saw in a moment that it was the 
design of the brethren of the presbytery to put me on trial, 
that they might see if I could do as they had heard that I did 
— get up and preach on the spur of the moment, without 
any previous preparation. I made no apology or objection to 
preaching ; for I must say that my heart was full of it, and 
that I wanted to preach. I arose and stepped into the aisle ; 
and looking up to the pulpit, I saw that it was a high, small 
pulpit, up against the wall. I therefore stood in the aisle and 
named my text : " Without holiness no man shall see the 
Lord." The Lord helped me to preach. I walked up and 
down the broad aisle ; and the people *ere evidently inter- 
ested and much moved. 

But after the meeting one of the brethren stepped up to 
me and said : " Brother Finney, if you come up our way, I 
should like to have you preach in some of our school districts. 
I should not like to have you preach in our church. But 
we have got school-houses in some of the districts, away 
from the village — I should like to have you preach in some 
of those. " I mention this to show what their ideas were of 
my method of preaching. But how completely they were 
in the dark in regard to the results of that method of address* 



BEYTYAL AT EVAKS' MILLS. 83 

ing people ! They used to complain that I let down the 
dignity of the pulpit ; that I was a disgrace to the ministerial 
profession ;. that I talked like a lawyer at the bar ; that I 
talked fco the people in a colloquial manner ; that I said 
"you," instead of preaching about sin and sinners, and say- 
ing " they ; " that I said " hell," and with such an emphasis 
as often to shock the people ; furthermore, that I urged the 
people with such vehemence, as if they might not hare a 
moment to live ; and sometimes they complained that I 
blamed the people too much. One doctor of divinity told 
me that he felt a great deal more like weeping over sinners, 
than blaming them. I replied to him that I did not wonder, 
if he believed that they had a sinful nature, and that sin 
was entailed upon them, and they could not help it. 

After I had preached some time, and the Lord had every 
where added his blessing, I used to say to ministers, whenever 
they contended with me about my manner of preaching, 
and desired me to adopt their ideas and preach as they did, 
that I dared not make the change they desired. I said, 
" Show me a more excellent way. ShoW me the fruits of 
your ministry ; and if they so far exceed mine as to give me 
evidence that you have found a more excellent way, I will 
adopt your views. But do you expect me to abandon my 
own views and practices, and adopt yours, when you your- 
selves cannot deny that, whatever errors I may have fallen 
into, or whatever imperfections there may be in my preach- 
ing, in style, and in everything else, yet the results justify my 
methods?" I would say to them: "I intend to improve 
all I can ; but I never can adopt your manner of preaching 
the Gospel, until I have higher evidence tnat you are right 
and I am wrong." 

They used to complain, oftentimes, that I was guilty of 
repetition in my preaching. I would take the same thought 
and turn it over and over, and illustrate it in various ways, 
I assured them that I thought it was necessary to do so, to 
make myself understood ; and that I could not be persuaded 



fcw MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FINNEY. 

to relinquish this practice hy any of their arguments. Then 
they would say, "you will not interest the educated part of 
your congregation." But facts soon silenced them on this 
point. They found that, under my preaching, judges, and 
lawyers, and educated men were converted by scores 
whereas, under their methods, such a thing seldom occurred 



CHAPTER VU 

REMARKS UPON MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

JN what I say upon this subject I hope my brethren will 
not impute to me any other motive than a kind and 
benevolent regard for their highest usefulness. I have 
always taken their criticisms kindly, and given them credit 
for benevolent intentions. Now I am an old man, and 
many of the results of my views and methods are known to 
the public. Is it out of place in me to speak freely to the 
ministry, upon this subject ? In reply to their objections, I 
have sometimes told them what a judge of the supreme court 
remarked to me, upon this subject. " Ministers," said he, 
" do not exercise good sense in addressing the people. They 
are afraid of repetition. They use language not well under- 
stood by the common people.. Their illustrations are not 
taken from the common pursuits of life. They write in too 
elevated a style, and read without repetition, and are not 
understood by the people. Now," said he, "if lawyers 
should take such a course, they would ruin themselves and 
their cause. When I was at the bar," he added, " I used to 
take it for granted, when I had before me a jury of respecta- 
ble men, that I should have to repeat over my main positions 
about as many times as there were persons in the jury-box. 
I learned that unless I did so, illustrated, and repeated, and 
turned the main points over — the main points of law and of 
evidence, I should lose my cause. Our object," he said, 
" in addressing a jury, is to get their minds settled before 
they leave the jury-box ; not to make a speech in language 
but partially understood by them ; not to let ourselves out 
in illustrations entirely above their apprehension; not to 



86 MEMOIRS OE CHARLES G. FltftfEY. 

display our oratory, and then let them go. We are set on 
getting a verdict. Hence we are set upon being understood. 
We mean to convince them; and if they have doubts as to 
the law, we make them understand it, and rivet it in their 
minds. In short, we expect to get a verdict, and to get it 
upon the spot ; so that when they go to their room, it will be 
found that they have understood us, and that they have been 
convinced by the facts and arguments. If we do not thus 
take pains to urge home every thought and every word, and 
svery point, so as to lodge it in their convictions, we are 
sure to lose our cause. We must overcome their prejudices; 
we must overcome their ignorance ; we must try to overcome 
even their interest, if they have any, against our client. 
Now," said he, " if ministers would do this, the effects of 
their preaching would be unspeakably different from what 
they are. They go into their study and write a sermon , 
they go into their pulpit and read it, and those that listen 
to it but poorly understand it. Many words used they will 
not understand, until they go home and consult their dic- 
tionaries. They do not address the people, expecting to 
convince them, and to get their verdict in favor of Christ, 
upon the spot. They seek no such object. They rather 
seem to aim at making fine literary productions, and dis- 
playing great eloquence and an ornate use of language. " Of 
course I do not profess, at this distance of time, to give the 
exact language used by the judge ; but I have given his re- 
marks in substance, as made to me at the time. 

I never entertained the least hard feeling toward my 
brethren for the roughness with which they often treated 
me. I knew that they were very anxious to have me do 
good ; and really supposed that I should do much more 
good, and much less evil, if I should adopt their views. But 
I was of a different opinion. 

I could mention many facts illustrative of the views of 
ministers, and of the manner in which they sometimes treated 
me. When I was preaching in Philadelphia, for example, 



MIBTISTEKIAL EDUCATION. 8? 

Dr. — — , the celebrated temperance lecturer from Connec- 
ticut, came there and heard me preach. He was indignant 
at the manner in which I let down the dignity of the pulpit. 
His principal conversation, however, was with Mr. Patter- 
son, with whom, at the time, I labored. He insisted upon 
it that I should not be allowed to preach till I had a minis- 
terial education ; that I should stop preaching and go to 
Princeton and learn theology, and get better views of the 
way in which the Gospel should be preached. 

Let not anything I say on this subject leave the impres- 
sion on any mind, that I thought either my views or my 
methods perfect, for I had no such thought. I was aware 
that I was but a child. I had not enjoyed the advantages of 
the higher schools of learning ; and so conscious had I been 
all along that I lacked those qualifications that would make 
me acceptable, especially to ministers, and I feared to the 
people in large places, that I had never had any higher 
ambition or purpose than to go into the new settlements and 
places where they did not enjoy the Gospel. Indeed I was 
often surprised myself, in the first years of my preaching, to 
find it so edifying and acceptable to the most educated 
classes. This was more than I had expected, greatly more 
than my brethren had expected, and more than I had dared 
to hope myself. I always endeavored to improve in every- 
thing in which I discovered myself to be in error. But the 
longer I preached, the less reason had I to think that my 
error lay in the direction in which it was supposed to lie, by 
my brother ministers. 

The more experience I had, the more I saw the results 
of my method of preaching, the more I conversed with all 
classes, high and low, educated and uneducated, the more 
was I confirmed in the fact that God had led me, had taught 
me, had given me right conceptions in regard to the best 
manner of winning souls. I say that God taught me ; and 
I know it must have been so ; for surely I never had obtained 
these notions from man. And I have often thought that I 



SB MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItfKEY. 

could say with perfect truth, as Paul said, that I was not 
taught the Gospel by man, but by the Spirit of Christ him- 
self. And I was taught it by the Spirit of the Lord in a 
manner so clear and forcible, that no argument of my min- 
isterial brethren, with which I was plied so often and so 
long, had the least weight with me. 

1 mention this as a matter of duty. For I am still sol- 
emnly impressed with the conviction, that the schools are to 
a great extent spoiling the ministers. Ministers in these 
days haye great facilities for obtaining information on all 
theological questions ; and are vastly more learned, so far 
as theological, historical, and Biblical learning is concerned, 
than they perhaps ever have been in any age of the world. 
Yet with all their learning, they do not know how to use 
it. They are, after all, to a great extent, like David in 
Saul's armor. A man can never learn to preach except by 
preaching. 

But one great thing above all others ministers need, and 
that is singleness of eye. If they have a reputation to 
secure and to nurse, they will do but little good. Many 
years ago a beloved pastor of my acquaintance, left home for 
his health, and employed a young man, just from the sem- 
inary, to fill his pulpit while he was absent. This young 
man wrote and preached as splendid sermons as he could. 
The pastor's wife finally ventured to say to him, " You 
are preaching over the heads of our people. They do not 
understand your language or your illustrations. You bring 
too much of your learning into the pulpit." He replied, 
" I am a young man. I am cultivating a style. I am aim- 
ing to prepare myself for occupying a pulpit and surround- 
ing myself with a cultivated congregation. I cannot de- 
scend to your people. I must cultivate an elevated style." 
I have had my thought and my eye upon this man ever sinco. 
I am not aware that he is yet dead ; but I have never seen 
his name connected with any revival, amidst all the great 
revivals that we have had, from year to year, since that time ; 



iTCinSTERIAL EDUCATION. 89 

and I never expect to, unless his views are radically changed, 
and unless he addresses the people from an entirely different 
stand-point, and from entirely different motives. 

I could name ministers who are yet alive, old men like 
myself, who were greatly ashamed of me when I first began 
to preach, because I was so undignified in the pulpit, used 
such common language, addressed the people with such 
directness, and because I aimed not at all at ornament, or 
at supporting the dignity of the pulpit. 

Dear brethren they were ; and I always felt in the kind- 
est manner toward ' them, and do not know that in a single 
instance I was ruffled or angry at what they said. I was 
from the very first aware that I should meet with this oppo- 
sition ; and that there was this wide gulf in our views, and 
would be in practice, between myself and other ministers. 
I seldom felt that I was one of them, or that they regarded 
me as really belonging to their fraternity. I was bred a law- 
yer. I came right forth from a law office to the pulpit, and 
talked to the people as I would have talked to a jury. 

It was very common, as I learned, among ministers in 
my earlier years of preaching, to agree among themselves 
that if I were to succeed in the ministry, it would bring the 
schools into disrepute ; and men would come to think it 
hardly worth while to support them with their funds, if a 
man could be accepted as a successful preacher without 
them. Now I never had a thought of undervaluing the 
education furnished by colleges or theological seminaries ; 
though I did think, and think now, that in certain respects 
they are greatly mistaken in their modes of training their 
students. They do not encourage them to talk to the peo- 
ple, and accustom themselves to extemporaneous addresses 
to the people in the surrounding country, while pursuing 
their studies. Men can not learn to preaeh by study without 
practice. The students should be encouraged to exercise, 
and prove, and improve, their gifts and calling of God, by 
going out into any places open to them, and holding Christ 



90 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FLNNEY. 

up to tlie people in earnest talks. They must thus learn tc 
preach. Instead of this, the students are required to write 
what they call sermons, and present them for criticism ; to 
preach, that is, read them to the class and the professor. 
Thus they play preaching. No man can preach in this 
manner. These so-called sermons will of course, under the 
criticism they receive, degenerate into literary essays. The 
people haye no respect for such sermons, as sermons. This 
reading of elegant literary essays, is not to them preaching. 
It is gratifying to literary taste, but not spiritually edifying. 
It does not meet the wants of the soul. It is not calculated 
to win souls to Christ. The students are taught to cultivate 
a fine, elevated style of writing. As for real eloquence, that 
gushing, impressive, and persuasive oratory, that naturally 
flows from an educated man whose soul is on fire with his 
subject, and who is free to pour out his heart to a waiting 
and earnest people, they have none of it. 

A reflecting mind will feel as if it were infinitely out of 
place to present in the pulpit to immortal souls, hanging 
upon the verge of everlasting death, such specimens of learn- 
ing and rhetoric. They know that men do not do so on any 
subject where they are really in earnest. The captain of a 
fire company, when a city is on fire, does not read to his 
company an essay, or exhibit a fine specimen of rhetoric, 
when he shouts to them and directs their movements. It is 
a question of urgency, and he intends that every word shall 
be understood. He is entirely in earnest with them ; and 
they feel that criticism would be out of place in regard to the 
language he uses. 

So it always is when men are entirely in earnest. Their 
language is in point, direct and simple. Their sentences are 
short, cogent, powerful. The appeal is made directly for 
action ; and hence all such discourses take effect. This is 
the reason why, formerly, the ignorant Methodist preachers, 
and the earnest Baptist preachers produced so much more 
effect than our most learned theologians and divines. The^ 



MNISTEBIAL EDUCATION. 91 

do so now. The impassioned utterance of a common ex- 
horter will often move a congregation far beyond anything 
that those splendid exhibitions of rhetoric can effect. Great 
sermons lead the people to praise the preacher. Good 
preaching leads the people to praise the Saviour. 

Our theological schools would be of much greater value 
than they are, if they were much more practical. I heard 
a theological teacher read a sermon on the importance of 
extemporaneous preaching. His views on that subject were 
correct; but his practice entirely contradicted them. He 
seemed to have studied the subject, and to have attained to 
practical views of the highest importance. But yet I have 
never known one of his students, m practice, to adopt those 
views. I have understood that he says that if he were to 
begin his life anew as a preacher, he would practice accord- 
ing to his present views ; and that he laments that his educa- 
tion was wrong in this respect, and consequently his practice 
has been wrong. 

In our school at Oberlin our students have been led — not 
by myself, I am bound to say — to think that they must write 
their sermons ; and very few of them, notwithstanding all I 
could say to them, have the courage to launch out, and com- 
mit themselves to extemporaneous preaching. They have 
been told again and again : " You must not think to imitate 
Mr. Finney. You cannot be Finneys." 

Ministers do not like to get up and talk to the people ap 
best they can, and break themselves at once into the habit 
of talking to the people. They must preach ; and if they 
must preach in the common acceptation of the term, they 
must write. Hence, according to that view, I have ne'ver 
preached. Indeed, people have often said to me : " Why, 
you do not preach. You talk to the people." A man in 
London went home from one of our meetings greatly con- 
victed. He had been a sceptic ; and his wife seeing him 
greatly excited, said to him, "Husband, have you been to 
hear Mr Finney preach ? " He replied : " I have been tc 



92 MEMOIRS OF CHAELES G. FIKNET. 

Mr. Finney's meeting. He don't preach ; he only e xplaina 
what other people preach." This, in substance, I have heard 
over and over again. "Why!" they say, "anybody could 
preach as you do. You just talk to the people. You talk 
as if you were as much at home as if you sat in the parlor." 
Others have said : "Why it don't seem like preaching ; but 
it seems as if Mr. Finney had taken me alone, and was con- 
versing with me face to face." 

Ministers generally avoid preaching what the people 
before them will understand as addressed particularly to 
them. They will preach to them about other people, and 
the sins of other people, instead of addressing them and 
saying, "You are guilty of these sins;" and, "The Lord 
requires this of you." They often preach about the Gospel 
instead of preaching the Gospel. They often preach about 
sinners instead of preaching to them. They studiously avoid 
being personal, in the sense of making the impression on 
any one present that he is the man. Now I have thought 
it my duty to pursue a different course ; and I always have 
pursued a different course. I have often said, "Do not 
think I am talking about anybody else ; but I mean you, 
and you, and you." 

Ministers told me at first that people would never endure 
this ; but would get up and go out, and never come to hear 
me again. But this is all a mistake. Very much, in this 
as in everything else, depends on the spirit in which it is 
said. If the people see that it is said in the spirit of love, 
with a yearning desire to do them good ; if they cannot call it 
an ebullition of personal animosity, but if they see, and can- 
not deny that it is telling the truth in love ; that it is com- 
ing right home to them to save them individually, there are 
very few that will continue to resent it. If at the time they 
feel pointed at and rebuked, nevertheless the conviction is 
upon them that they needed it, and it will surely ultimately 
do them great good. 

I have often said to people, when I saw that they looked 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 93 

offended, " Now you resent this, and you will go away and 
say that you will not come again ; but you will. Your own 
convictions are on my side. You know that what I tell you 
is true ; and that I tell it for your own good ; and that you 
cannot continue to resent it." And I have always found 
this to be true. 

My experience has been, that even in respect to personal 
popularity, "honesty is the best policy " in a minister ; that 
if he means to maintain his hold upon the confidence, and 
respect, and affection of any people, he must be faithful tc 
their souls. He must let them see that he is not courting 
them for any purpose of popularity, but that he is trying to 
save their souls. Men are not fools. They have no solid 
respect for a man that will go into the pulpit and preach 
smooth things. They cordially despise it in their inmost 
souls. And let no man think that he will gain permanent 
respect, that he will be permanently honored by his people, 
unless as an ambassador of Christ he deals faithfully with 
their souls. 

The great argument in opposition to my views of preach- 
ing the Gospel was, that I should not give nearly so much 
instruction to the people, as I should if I wrote my sermons. 
They said I would not study ; and consequently, although I 
might succeed as an evangelist, where I labored but a few 
weeks or months in a place, still it would never do for a 
pastor to preach extemporaneously. 

Now I have the best of reasons for believing that 
preachers of written sermons do not give their people so 
much instruction as they think they do. The people do not 
remember their sermons. I have in multitudes of instances 
heard people complain — "I cannot carry home anything 
that I hear from the pulpit." They have said to me in 
hundreds of instances : " We always remember what we 
have heard you preach. We remember your text, and the 
manner in which you handled it ; but written sermons we 
oannot rememJw " 



04 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKKET. 

I have been a pastor now for many years — indeed, eyei 
since 1832 ; and I have never heard any complaint that I 
did not instruct the people. I do not believe it is true 
that my people are not as well instructed, so far as pulpit 
instruction is concerned, as those people are who sit under 
the preaching of written sermons. It is true that a man 
may write his sermons without studying much ; as it is true 
that he may preach extemporaneously without much study 
or thought. Many written sermons, that I have heard, 
manifested anything but profound, accurate tb':ugnt. 

My habit has always been to study the Gospel, and the 
best application of it, all the time. I do not confine my- 
self to hours and days of writing my sermons ; but my mind 
is always pondering the truths of the Gospel, and the best 
ways of using them. I go among the people and learn their 
wants. Then, in the light of the Holy Spirit, I take a 
subject that I think will meet their present necessities. I 
think intensely on it, and pray much over the subject on 
Sabbath morning, for example, and get my mind full of it, 
and then go and pour it out to the people. Whereas one 
great difficulty with a written sermon is, that a man after 
he has written it, needs to think but little of the subject. 
He needs to pray but little. He perhaps reads over his 
manuscript Saturday evening, or Sabbath morning ; but he 
does not feel the necessity of being powerfully anointed, 
that his mouth may be opened and filled with arguments, 
and that he may be enabled to preach out of a full heart. 
He is quite at ease. He has only to use his eyes and his 
voice, and he can preach, in his way. It may be a sermon 
that has been written for years ; it may be a sermon that ho 
has written, every word of it, within the week. But on 
Sabbath-day there is no freshness in it. It does not come 
necessarily new and fresh, and as an anointed message from 
God to his heart, and through his heart to the people. 

I am prepared to say, most solemnly, that I think I have 
studied all the more for not having written my sermons, I 



MI2JISTEJBIA.L EDUCATION. dS 

hiw/e been obliged to make the subjects upon which 1 
preached f ainiliar to my thoughts, to fill my mind with 
them, and then go and talk them off to the people. I simply 
note the heads upon which I wish to dwell in the briefest 
possible manner, and in language not a word of which I 
use, perhaps, in preaching. I simply jot down the order 
of my propositions, and the positions which I propose to 
take ; and in a word, sketch an outline of the remarks and 
inferences with which I conclude. 

But unless men will try it, unless they will begin and 
talk to the people, as best they can, keeping their hearts 
full of truth and full of the Holy Ghost, they will never 
make extemporaneous preachers. I believe that half an 
hour's earnest talk to the people from week to week, if the 
talk be pointed, direct, earnest, logical, will really instruct 
them more than the two labored sermons that those who 
write, get off to their people on the Sabbath. I believe the 
people would remember more of what is said, be more 
interested in it, and would carry it away with them to be 
pondered, vastly more than they do what they get from the 
labored written sermons. 

I have spoken of my method of preparing for the pulpit 
in more recent years. When I first began to preach, and 
for some twelve years of my earliest ministry, I wrote not a 
word ; and was most commonly obliged to preach without 
any preparation whatever, except what I got in prayer. 
Oftentimes I went into the pulpit without knowing upon 
what text I should speak, or a word that I should say. I 
depended on the occasion and the Holy Spirit to suggest the 
text, and to open up the whole subject to my mind ; and 
certainly in no part of my ministry have I preached with 
greater success and power. If I did not preach from inspi- 
ration, I don't know how I did preach. It was a common 
experience with me, and has been during all my ministerial 
life, that the subject would open up to my mind in a man- 
ner that was surprising to myself. It seemed that I could 



98 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. PLKTKEY. 

see with intuitive clearness just what I ought to say , and 
whole platoons of thoughts, words, and illustrations, came 
to me as fast as I could deliver them. When I first began 
to make " skeletons," I made them after, and not before 1 
preached. It was to preserve the outline of the thought 
which had been given me, on occasions such as I have 
just mentioned. I found when the Spirit of God had given 
me a very clear view of a subject, I could not retain it, to be 
used on any other occasion, unless I jotted down an outline 
of the thoughts. But after all, I have never found myself 
able to use old skeletons in preaching, to any considerable 
extent, without remodelling them, and having a fresh and 
new view of the subject given me by the Holy Spirit. I 
almost always get my subjects on my knees in prayer ; and 
it has been a common experience with me, upon receiving a 
subject from the Holy Spirit, to have it make so strong an 
impression on my mind as to make me tremble, so that I 
could with difficulty write. When subjects are thus given 
me that seem to go through me, body and soul, I can in a 
few moments make out a skeleton that shall enable me to 
retain the view presented by the Spirit ; and I find that such 
sermons always tell with great power upon the people. 

Some of the most telling sermons that I have evei 
preached in Oberlin, I have thus received after the bell had 
rung for church ; and I was obliged to go and pour them off 
from my full heart, without jotting down more than the 
briefest possible skeleton, and that sometimes not covering 
half the ground that I covered in my sermon. 

I tell this, not boastfully, but because it is a fact, and to 
give the praise to God, and not to any talents of my own. 
Let no man think that those sermons which have been called 
so powerful, were productions of my own brain, or of my own 
heart, unassisted by the Holy Ghost. They were not mine, 
but from the Holy Spirit in me. 

And let no man say that this is claiming a higher inspi- 
ration than is promised to ministers, or than ministers have 



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MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 9f 

a right to expect. For I believe that all ministers, called by 
Christ to preach the Gospel, ought to be, and may be, in 
such a sense inspired, as to "preach the Gospel with the 
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." What else did Christ 
mean when he said, " Go and disciple all nations ; and lo i 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world ?* 
What did he mean when he said, speaking of the Holy Spirit, 
" He shall take of mine and show it unto you ? " " He shall 
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have 
said unto you ? " What did lie mean when he said, " If any 
man believe in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
living water ? " " This spake he of the Spirit, that they 
which believe on him should receive." All ministers may 
be, and ought to be, so filled with the Holy Spirit that all 
who hear them shall be impressed with the conviction that 
'* God is in them of a truth." 

Note. — Here we present a facsimile of one of Mr. Finney's 
" skeletons"— taken at random from the hundreds which he hat 
left — Editor 
5 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EEYIYAL AT AKTWEKP. 

I MUST now give some account of my labors, ana tnen 
result, at Antwerp, a village north of Evans' mills. 

I arrived there, the first time, in April, and found that 
no religious services, of any kind, were held in the town. 

The land in the township belonged to a Mr. P , a rich 

landholder residing in Ogdensburgh. To encourage ihe 
settlement of the township, he had built a brick meeting- 
house. But the people had no mind to keep up public 
worship, and therefore the meeting-house was locked up, and 
the key was in the possession of a Mr. C- — , who kept the 
village hotel. 

I very soon learned that there was a Presbyterian church 
in that place, consisting of but few members. They had, 
some years before, tried to keep up a meeting at the village, 
on Sabbath. But one of the elders who conducted their Sab- 
bath meetings, lived about five miles out of the village, and 
was obliged, in approaching the village, to pass through a 
Universalist settlement. The tFniversalists had broken up 
the village meeting, by rendering it impossible for Deacon 

R , as they called him, to get through their settlement 

to meeting. They would even take off the wheels of his 
carriage ; and finally they carried their opposition so far 
that he gave up attending meetings at the village ; and all 
religious services at the village, and in the township, so far 
as I could learn, were relinquished. 

I found Mrs. C , the landlady, a pious woman. 

There were two other pious women in the village, a Mrs. 
H , the wife of a merchant, and a Mrs. R , the wife 



REVIVAL AT ANTWERP. 9S 

of a physician. It was on Friday, if I remember right, that 
I arrived there. I called on those pious women and asked 
them if they would like to have a meeting. They aaid that 
they would, but they did not know that it would be possible. 

Mrs. H agreed to open her parlor that evening, for a 

meeting, if I could get anybody to attend. I went about 
and invited the people, and secured the attendance, I think, 
of some thirteen in her parlor. I preached to them ; and 
then said, that, if I could get the use of the village school- 
house, I would preach on Sabbath. I got tht> consent of 
the trustees ; and the next day an appointment was circu- 
lated around among the people, for a meeting at the school- 
house Sabbath morning. 

Id passing around the village I heard a vast amount of 
profanity. I thought I had never heard so much in any 
place that I had ever visited. It seemed as if the men, in 
playing ball upon the green, and in every business place 
that I stepped into, were all cursing and swearing and 
damning each other. I felt as if I had arrived upon the 
borders of hell. I had a kind of awful feeling, I recollect, 
as I passed around the village on Saturday. The very at- 
mosphere seemed to me to be poison ; and a kind of terror 
took possession of me. 

I gave myself to prayer on Saturday, and finally urged 
my petition till this answer came : "Be not afraid, but 
speak, and hold not thy peace ; for I am with thee, and no 
man shall set on thee to hurt thee. For I have much people 
inrthis city." This completely relieved me of all fear. I 
found, however, that the Christian people there were really 
afraid that something serious might happen, if religious meet- 
ings were again established in that place. I spent Saturday 
very much in prayer ; but passed around the village enough to 
see that the appointment that had been given out for preach- 
ing at the school-house, was making quite an excitement. 

Sabbath morning I arose and left my lodgings in the 
hotel ; and in order to get alone, where^I could let out my 



100 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

voice as well as ray heart, I went up into the woods at some 
distance from the village, and continued for a considerable 
time in prayer. However, I did not get relief, and went up 
a second time ; but the load upon my mind increased, and I 
did not find relief. I went up a third time ; and then the 
answer came. I found that it was time for meeting, and 
went immediately to the school-house. I found it packed to 
its utmost capacity. I had my pocket Bible in my hand, and 
read to them this text : " God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him 
might not perish but have everlasting life." I cannot 
remember much that I said ; but I know that the point on 
which my mind principally labored, was the treatment which 
God received in return for his love. The subject affected 
my own mind very much ; and I preached and poured out 
my soul and my tears together. 

I saw several of the men there from whom I had, the day 
before, heard the most awful profanity. I pointed them out 
in the meeting, and told what they said — how they called on 
God to damn each other. Indeed, I let loose my whole heart 
upon them. I told them they seemed " to howl blasphemy 
about the streets like hell-hounds ; " and it seemed to me 
that I had arrived " on the very verge of hell." Everybody 
knew that what I said was true, and they quailed under it. 
They did not appear offended ; but the people wept about 
as much as I did myself. I think there were scarcely any 
dry eyes in the house. 

Mr. C , the landlord, had refused to open the meet- 
ing-house in the morning. But as soon as these first services 
losed, he arose and said to the people that he would open 
the meeting-house in the afternoon. 

The people scattered, and carried the information in 
every direction ; and in the afternoon the meeting-house 
was nearly as much crowded as the school-house had been 
in the morning. Everybody was out at meeting ; and the 
Lord let me loose upon them in a wonderful manner. My 



REVIVAL AT ANTWERP. 101 

preaching seemed to them to be something new. Indeed it 
seemed to myself as if I could rain hail and love upon them 
at the same time ; or in other words, that I could rain upon 
them hail, in loye. It seemed as if my love to God, in view 
of the abuse which they heaped upon him, sharpened up my 
mind to the most intense agony. I felt like rebuking them 
with all my heart, and yet with a compassion which the? 
could not mistake. I never knew that they accused me of 
severity ; although I think I never spoke with more severity, 
perhaps, in my life. 

But the labors of this day were effectual to the conviction 
of the great mass of the population. From that day, ap- 
point a meeting when and where I would, anywhere round 
about, and the people would throng to hear. The work im- 
mediately commenced and went forward with great power. 
I preached twice in the village church on Sabbath, attended 
a prayer-meeting at intermission, and generally preached 
somewhere, in a school-house in the neighborhood, at five 
o'clock in the afternoon. 

On the third Sabbath that I preached there, an aged man 
came to me as I was entering the pulpit, and asked me if I 
would not go and preach in a school-house in his neighbor- 
hood, about three miles distant ; saying that they had never 
had any services there. He wished me to come as soon as I 
could. I appointed the next day, Monday, at five o'clock in 
the afternoon. It was a warm day. I left my horse at the 
village, and thought I would walk down, so that I should have 
no trouble in calling along on the people, in the neighboi hood 
of the school-house. However, before I reached the place, 
having labored so hard on the Sabbath, I found myself very 
much exhausted, and sat down by the way and felt as if I 
could scarcely proceed. I blamed myself for not having 
taken my horse. 

But at the appointed hour I found the school-house full; 
and I could only get a standing-place near the open door. I 
read a hymn; and I cannot call it singing, for they seemed 



102 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKKET. 

never to have had any church music in that place. However 
the people pretended to sing. But it amounted to about this 
each one bawled in his own way. My ears had been culti- 
vated by teaching church music ; and their horrible discord 
distressed me so much that, at first, I thought I must go out. 
I finally put both hands over my ears, and held them with 
my full strength. But this did not shut out the discords. I 
stood it, however, until they were through ; and then I cast 
myself down on my knees, almost in a state of desperation, 
and began to pray. The Lord opened the windows of heaven, 
and the spirit of prayer was poured out, and I let my whole 
heart out in prayer. 

I had taken no thought with regard to a text upon which 
to preach ; but waited to see the congregation. As soon as 
I had done praying, I arose from my knees and said: 
"Up, get you out of this place ; for the Lord will destroy 
this city." I told them I did not recollect where that text 
was ; but I told them very nearly where they would find it, 
and then went on to explain it. I told them that there 
was such a man as Abraham, and who he was ; and that 
there was such a man as Lot, and who he was ; their rela- 
tions to each other ; their separating from each other on 
account of differences between their herd men ; and that 
Abraham took the hill country, and Lot settled in the vale 
of Sodom. I then told them how exceedingly wicked 
Sodom became, and what abominable practices they fell 
into. I told them that the Lord decided to destroy Sodom, 
and visited Abraham, and informed him what he was about 
to do ; that Abraham prayed to the Lord to spare Sodom, if 
he found so many righteous there ; and the Lord promised 
to do so for their sakcs ; that then Abraham besought him 
to save it for a certain less number, and the Lord said he 
would spare it for their sakes ; that he kept on reducing the 
number, until he reduced the number of righteous persons 
to ten ; and God promised him that, if he found ten right- 
eous persons in the city, he would spare it. Abraham 



BEVTYAL AI ANTWERP. 

made no farther request, and Jehovah left him. But it was 
found that there was but one righteous person there, and 
that was Lot, Abraham's nephew. i i And the men said to 
Lot, hast thou here any besides ? Son-in-law, and thy sons, 
and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, 
bring them out of this place ; for we will destroy this place, 
because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of 
the Lord ; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it." 

While I was relating these facts I observed the people 
looking as if they were angry. Many of the men were in 
their shirt sleeves ; and they looked at each other and at 
me, as if they were ready to fall upon me and chastise me 
on the spot. I saw their strange and unaccountable looks, 
and could not understand what I was saying, that had 
offended them. However it seemed to me that their anger 
rose higher and higher, as I continued the narrative. As 
soon as I had finished the narrative, I turned upon them 
and said, that I understood that they had never had a 
religious meeting in that place ; and that therefore I had a 
right to take it for granted, and was compelled to take it 
for granted, that they were an ungodly people. I pressed 
that home upon them with more and more energy, with my 
heart full almost to bursting. 

I had not spoken to them in this strain of direct applica- 
tion, I should think, more than a quarter of an hour, when 
all at once an awful solemnity seemed to settle down, upon 
them ; the congregation began to fall from their seats in 
every direction, and cried for mercy. If I had had a sword 
in each hand, I could not have cut them off their seats as 
fast as they fell. Indeed nearly the whole congregation 
were either on their knees or prostrate, I should think, in 
less than two minutes from this first shock that fell upon 
them. Every one prayed for himself, who was able to 
speak at all. 

Of course I was obliged to stop preaching ; for they nc 
longer paid any attention. I saw the old man who had in- 



104 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKKET. 

yited me there to preach, sitting about in the middle of the 
house, and looking around with utter amazement. I raised 
my voice almost to a scream, to make him hear, and pointing 
to him said, " Can't you pray ? " He instantly fell upon 
his knees, and with a stentorian voice poured himself out to 
God ; but he did not at all get the attention of the people. 
I then spake as loud as I could, and tried to make them at- 
tend to me. I said to them, " You are not in hell yet ; and 
now let me direct you to Christ." For a few moments I 
tried to hold forth the Gospel to them ; but scarcely any of 
them paid any attention. My heart was so overflowing with 
joy at such a scene that I could hardly contain myself. It 
was with much difficulty that I refrained from shouting, 
and giving glory to God. 

As soon as I could sufficiently control my feelings I 
turned to a young man who was close to me, and was en - 
gaged in praying for himself, laid my hand on his shoulder, 
thus getting his attention, and preached in his ear Jesus. 
As soon as I got his attention to the cross of Christ, he be- 
lieved, was calm and quiet for a minute or two, and then 
broke out in praying for the others. I then turned to an- 
other, and took the same course with him, with the same 
result ; and then another, and another. 

In this way 1 kept on, until I found the time had arrived 
when I must leave them, and go and fulfil an appointment 
in the village. I told them this, and asked the old man whc 
had invited me there, to remain and take charge of the 
aieeting, while I went to my appointment. He did so. But 
there was too much interest, and there were too many 
wounded souls, to dismiss the meeting ; and so it was held 
all night. In the morning there were still those there thai 
could not get away ; and they were carried to a private 
house in the neighborhood, to make room for the school. 
In the afternoon they sent for me to come down there, aa 
they could not yet break up the meeting. 

When I went down the second time, I got an explana- 



EEYIYAL AT ANTWEEP. 105 

tion of the anger manifested by the congregation during 
the introduction of my sermon the day before. I learned 
that the place was called Sodom, but I knew it not ; and 
that there was but one pious man in the place, and him 
they called Lot. This was the old man that invited me 
there. The people supposed that I had chosen my subject, 
and preached to them in that manner, because they were so 
wicked as to be called Sodom. This was a striking coinci- 
dence ; but so far as I was concerned, it was altogether 
accidental. 

I have not been m that place for many years. A few 
years since, I was laboring in Syracuse, in the state of New 
York. Two gentlemen called upon me one day ; one an 
elderly man ; the other not quite fifty years of age. The 
younger man introduced the older one to me as deacon 

W , elder in his church ; saying that he had called on me 

to give a hundred dollars to Oberlin College. The older 
man in his turn introduced the younger, saying, ' ' This is 
my minister, the Rev. Mr. Cross. He was converted under 
your ministry." Whereupon Mr. Cross said to me: "Do 
you remember preaching at such a time in Antwerp, and in 
such a part of the town, in the school-house, in the after- 
noon, and that such a scene, describing it, occurred there ? " 
I said, ■ ' I remember it very well, and can never forget it 
while I remember anything." "Well," said he, "I was 
then but a young man, and was converted in that meeting. " 
He has been many years a successful minister. Several of 
his children have obtained their education in our college in 
Oberlin. 

As nearly as I can learn, although that revival came upon 
them so suddenly, and was of such a powerful type, the con- 
verts were sound, and the work permanent and genuine. 1 
never heard of any disastrous reaction as having taken place. 

I have spoken of the Universalists having prevented 

Deacon R from attending religious meetings on Sabbath> 

in the village of Antwerp, by taking off the wheels of his 
5* 



106 MEMOIES OF CHAELES G. FLBTNEY. 

carriage. When the revival got its full strength, Deacon 

R wanted me to go and preach in that neighborhood 

Accordingly I made an appointment to preach on a certain 
afternoon, in their schoolhouse. When I arrived I found 

the schoo. house filled, and Deacon R sitting near a 

window, by a stand with a Bible and hymn book on it. I 
sat down beside him, then arose and read a hymn, and they 
sung after a fashion. I then engaged in prayer, and had 
great access to the throne of grace. I then arose and took 
this text : " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can 
ye escape the damnation of hell ? " 

I saw that Deacon R was very uneasy ; and he soon 

got up and went and stood in the open door. As there 
were some boys near the door, I supposed, at the time, that 
he had gone to keep the boys still. But I afterward learned 
that it was through fear. He thought that if they set upon 
me, he would be where he could escape. From my text he 
concluded that I was going to deal very plainly with them ; 
and he had been made quite nervous with the opposition 
which he had met with from them, and wanted to keep out 
of their reach. I proceeded to pour myself out upon them 
with all my might ; and before I was through, there was a 
complete upturning of the very foundations of Universalism, 
[ think, in that place. It was a scene that almost equalled 
,hat of which I have have spoken, in Sodom. Thus the 
revival penetrated to every part of the town, and some of 
fche neighboring towns shared in the blessing. The work 
was very precious in this place. 

When we came to receive the converts, after a great 
number had been examined, and the day approached for their 
admission, I found that several of them had been brought 
up in Baptist families, and asked them if they would not 
prefer to be immersed. They said they had no choice ; but 
their parents would prefer to have them immersed. I told 
them I had no objection to immersing them, if they thought 
it would please their friends better, and themselves as welL 



EEYIVAL AT AHTWEBP. 10? 

Accordingly, when Sabbath, came, I arranged to baptize by 
immersion, during the intermission. We went down to a 
stream that runs through the place ; and there I baptized, I 
should think, a dozen or more. 

When the hour for afternoon services arrived, we went to 
the meeting-house ; and there I baptized a great number of 
persons by taking water in my hand and applying it to the 
forehead. The administration of the ordinance in the church 
was so manifestly owned and blessed of God, as to do much 
to satisfy the people that that mode of baptism was accepta- 
ble to him. 

Among the converts was also a considerable number 
whose friends were Methodists. On Saturday I learned 
that some Methodist people were saying to the converts, 
" Mr. Finney is a Presbyterian. He believes in the doctrine 
of election and predestination ; but he has not preached it 
here. He dare not preach it, because if he should, the con- 
verts would not join his church." This determined me to 
preach on the doctrine of election, the Sabbath morning 
previous to their joining the church. I took my text, and 
went on to show, first, what the doctrine of election is not ; 
secondly, what it is ; thirdly, that it is a doctrine of the 
Bible ; fourthly, that it is the doctrine of reason ; fifthly, 
that to deny it, is to deny the very attributes of God ; sixthly, 
that it opposes no obstacle in the way of the salvation of the 
non-elect ; seventhly, that all men may be saved if they will ; 
and lastly, that it is the only hope that anybody will be 
saved ; and concluded with remarks. 

The Lord made it exceedingly clear to my own mind, 
and so clear to the people, that, I believe, it convinced the 
Methodists themselves. I never heard a word said against 
it, or a word of dissatisfaction with the argument. While I 
was preaching, I observed a Methodist sister with whom 
I had become acquainted, and whom I regarded as an excel- 
lent Christian woman, weeping, as she sat near the pulpit 
stairs. I feared that I was hurting her f eelings. After the 



108 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIHNEY. 

close of the meeting, she remained sitting and weeping } 
and I went to her and said to her, " Sister, I hope I have 
not injured jour feelings." " No," said she, " you have not 
injured my feelings, Mr. Finney ; but I have committed 
a sin. No longer ago than last night, my husband, who is 
an impenitent man, was arguing this very question with me ; 
m<3 maintaining, as best he could, the doctrine of election." 
Said she, " I resisted it, and told him that it was not true. 
And now, to-day, you have convinced me that it is true ; 
and instead of forming any excuse for my husband, or any- 
body else, it is the only hope I can have that he will be 
saved, or anybody else." I heard no farther objection to 
the converts joining a church that believed in the doctrine 
of election. 

There were a great many interesting cases of conversion 
in this place ; and there were two very striking cases of 
instantaneous recovery from insanity during this revival. 
As I went into meeting in the afternoon of one Sabbath, I 
saw several ladies sitting in a pew, with a woman dressed in 
black who seemed to be in great distress of mind ; and they 
were partly holding her, and preventing her from going 
out. As I came in, one of the ladies came to me and told 
me that she was an insane woman ; that she had been a 
Methodist, but had, as she supposed, fallen from grace ; 
which had led to despair, and finally to insanity. Her hus- 
band was an intemperate man, and lived several miles from 
the village ; and he had brought her down and left her at 
meeting, and had himself gone to the tavern. I said a few 
words to her ; but she replied that she must go ; that she 
could not hear any praying, or preaching, or singing ; that 
hell was her portion, and she could not endure anything 
that made her think of heaven. 

I cautioned the ladies, privately, to keep her in her seat, 
if they could, without her disturbing the meeting. I then 
went into the pulpit and read a hymn. As soon as the sing- 
ing began, she struggled hard to get out. But the ladiea 



REVIVAL AT ANTWERP. 109 

obstructed her passage; and kindly but persistently pre 
vented her escape. After a few moments she became quiet m 
but seemed to avoid hearing or attending at all to the singing. 
I then prayed. For some little time I heard her struggling 
to get out ; but before I had done she became quiet, and the 
congregation was still. The Lord gave me a great spirit of 
prayer, and a text ; for I had no text settled upon before. 
1 took my text from Hebrews : ( ' Let us come boldly unto 
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find 
grace to help in time of need." 

My object was to encourage faith, in ourselves, and in 
her ; and in ourselves for her. When I began to pray, she 
at first made quite an effort to get out. But the ladies 
kindly resisted, and she finally sat still, but held her head 
very low, and seemed determined not to attend to what I 
said. But as I proceeded she began gradually to raise her 
hea-' 7 , and to look at me from within her long black bonnet. 
She looked up more and more until she sat upright, and 
looked me in the face with intense earnestness. As I pro- 
ceeded to urge the people to be bold in their faith, to launch 
out, and commit themselves with the utmost confidence to 
God, through the atoning sacrifice of our great High Priest, 
all at once she startled the congregation by uttering a loud 
shriek. She then cast herself almost from her seat, held her 
head very low, and I could see that she "trembled very ex 
ceedingly. " The ladies in the pew with her, partly supported 
her, and watched her with manifest prayerful interest and 
sympathy. As I proceeded she began to look up again, and 
soon sat upright, with face wonderfully changed, indicating 
triumphant joy and peace. There was such a glow upon her 
countenance as I have seldom seen in any human face. Her 
joy was so great that she could scarcely contain herself till 
meeting was over ; and then she soon made everybody under- 
stand around her, that she was set at liberty. She glorified 
God, and rejoiced with amazing triumph. About two years 
after, I met with her, and found her still full of joy and peace. 



110 MEMOIES OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

The other case of recovery was that of a woman who hac 
also fallen into despair and insanity. I was not present 
when she was restored ; but was told that it was almost or 
quite instantaneous, by means of a baptism of the Holy 
Spirit. Revivals of religion are sometimes accused of mak- 
ing people mad. The fact is, men are naturally mad on the 
subject of religion ; and revivals rather restore them, than 
make them mad. 

During this revival, we heard much of opposition to it 
from Grouverneur, a town about twelve miles, 1 believe, 
farther north. We heard that the wicked threatened to 
come down and mob us, and break up our meetings. How- 
ever, of course, we paid no attention to that ; and I mention 
it here only because I shall have occasion soon to notice a 
revival there. Having received the converts, and having 
labored in Antwerp together with Evans' Mills, until the 
fall of the year, I sent and procured for them, a young man 
by the name of Denning, whom they settled as pastor. I 
then suspended my labors at Antwerp. 



CHAPTER IK. 

MILLS. 

AT this time I was earnestly pressed to remain at Evans 3 
Mills, and finally gave tliem encouragement that I 
would abide with them, at least one year. Being engaged to 
marry, I went from there to Whitestown, Oneida county, and 
was married in October, 1824 My wife had made prepara- 
tions for housekeeping ; and a day or two after our marriage I 
left her, and returned to Evans' Mills, to obtain conveyance 
to transport our goods to that place. I told her that she 
might expect me back in about a week. 

The fall previous to this, I had preached a few times, in 
the evening, at a place called Perch Eiver, still farther 
north-west from Evans' Mills about a dozen miles. I spent 
one Sabbath at Evans' Mills, and intended to return for my 
wife, about the middle of that week. But a messenger from 
Perch Eiver came up that Sabbath, and said there had been 
a revival working its way slowly among the people ever since 
I preached there ; and he begged me to go down and preach 
there, at least once more. I finally sent an appointment to 
be thers Tuesday night. Bat I found the interest so deep 
that I stayed and preached Wednesday night, and Thursday 
night ; and I finally gave up returning that week, for my 
wife, and continued to preach in that neighborhood. 

The revival soon spread in the direction of Brownviile, 
a considerable village several miles, I think, in a south- 
western direction from that place. Finally, under the press- 
ing invitation of the minister and church at Brownviile, I 
went there and spent the winter, having written to my 



112 KE&01US 01 UHA&LiSS G. I?LtfMT. 

S 

wife, that such were the circumstances that I must defer 

coming for her, until God seemed to open the way. 

At Brownyille there was a very interesting work. But 
still the church was in such a state that it was very difficult 
to get them into the work. I could not find much that 
seemed to me to be sound-hearted piety ; and the policy 
of the ministei was really such as to forbid anything like a 
general sweep of a revival. I labored there that winter 
with great pain, and had many serious obstacles to overcome. 
Sometimes I would find that the minister and his wife were 
away from our meetings, and would learn afterwards that 
they had stayed away to attend a party. 

I was the guest at that place of a Mr. B , one of the 

elders of the church, and the most intimate and influential 
friend of the minister. One day as I came down from my 
room, and was going out to call on some inquirers, I met 

Mr. B in the hall ; and he said to me, " Mr. Finney, 

what should you think of a man that was praying week 
after week for the Holy Spirit, and could get no answer ? " 
I replied that I should think he was praying from false 
motives. "But from what motives," said he, "should a 
man pray ? If he wants to be happy, is that a false 
motive ? " I replied, " Satan might pray with as good a 
motive as that ; " and then quoted the words of the Psalm- 
ist : " Uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach 
transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto 
thee." " See ! " said I, " the Psalmist did not pray for the 
Holy Spirit that he might be happy, but that he might be 
useful, and that sinners might be convex ted to Christ." I 
said this and turned and went immediately out ; and he 
turned very short and went back to his room. 

I remained out till dinner time ; and when I returned, 
he met me, and immediately began to confess. " Mr. 
Finney," said he, "I owe you a confession. I was angry 
when you said that to me ; and I must confess that I hope^ 
I should never see you again. What you said," he cc* 



EETTJRK TO EVANS* MILLS. HB 

tinned, " forced the conviction upon me, that I never had 
been converted, that I never had had any higher motive 
than a mere selfish desire for my own happiness. I went 
away," said he, " after you left the house, and prayed to God 
to take my life. I could not endure to have it known that 
I had always been deceived. I have been most intimate with 
our minis fcer. I have journeyed with him, and slept with 
him, and conversed with him, and have been more intimate 
with him than any other member of the church ; and yet I 
saw that I had always been a deceived hypocrite. The 
mortification was intolerable ; and," said he, "I wanted to 
die, and prayed the Lord to take my life." However, he 
was all broken down then, and from that time became a 
new man. 

That conversion did a great deal of good. 1 might re- 
late many other interesting facts connected with this revival ; 
but as there were so many things that pained me, in regard 
to the relation of the pastor to it, and especially of the pas- 
tor's wife, I will forbear. 

Early in the spring, 1825, I left Brown ville, with my 
horse and cutter, to go after my wife. I had been absent 
six months since our marriage ; and as mails then were be- 
tween us, we had seldom been able to exchange letters. 1 
drove on some fifteen miles, and the roads were very slippery. 
My horse was smooth shod, and I found I must have his 
shoes re-set. I stopped at Le Rayville, a small village about 
three miles south of Evans' Mills. While my horse was 
being shod, the people finding that I was there, ran to me, 
and wanted to know if I would not preach, at one o'clock, in 
the school-house ; for they had no meeting-house. 

At one o'clock the house was packed ; and while I 
preached, the Spirit of God came down with great power 
upon the people. So great and manifest was the out-pour- 
ing of the Spirit, that in compliance with their earnest en- 
treaty I concluded to spend the night there, and preach again 
ui the evening. But the work increased more and more ; 



114 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

and in the evening I appointed another meeting in the morn- 
ing, and in the morning I appointed another in the evening t 
and soon I saw' that I should not he able to go any farther 
after my wife. I told a brother that if he would take my 
horse and cutter and go after my wife, I would remain. He 
did so, and I went on preaching, from day to day, and from 
night to night ; and there was a powerful revival. 

I should have said that, while I was at Brownville, God 
revealed to me. all at once, in a most unexpected manner, the 
fact that he was going to pour out his Spirit at Gouverneur, 
and that I must go there and preach. Of the place I knew 
absolutely nothing, except that, in that town, there was so 
much opposition manifested to the revival in Antwerp, the 
year before. I can never tell how, or why, the Spirit of God 
made that revelation to me. But I knew then, and I have 
no doubt now, that it was a direct revelation from God to 
me. I had not thought of the place, that I know of, for 
months ; but in prayer the thing was all shown to me, as 
clear as light, that I must go and preach in Gouverneur, and 
that God would pour out his Spirit there. 

Yery soon after this, I saw one of the members of the 
church from Gouverneur, who was passing through Brown- 
ville. I told him what God had revealed to me. He stared 
at me as if he supposed that I was insane. But I charged 
him to go home, and tell the brethren what I said, that they 
might prepare themselves for my coming, and for the ou> 
pouring of the Lord's Spirit. From him I learned that 
they had no minister ; that there were two churches and 
two meeting-houses, in the town, standing near together ; 
that the Baptists had a minister, and the Presbyterians no 
minister ; that an elderly minister lived there who had for- 
merly been their pastor, but had been dismissed ; and that 
they were having, in the Presbyterian church, no regular 
Sabbath services. From what he said, I gathered that re- 
ligion was in a very low state ; and he himself was as cold 
as an iceberg. 



RETURN TO EVANS* MILLS. 115 

But now I return to my labors in Le Kayville. After 
iiboring there a few weeks, the great mass of the inhabitants 

were converted ; and among the rest Judge , a man 

in point of influence, standing head and shoulders above all 
the people around him. My wife arrived, of course, a fe^ 
days after I sent for her ; and we accepted the invitation of 

Judge C and his wife, to become their guests. But 

after a few weeks, the people urged me to go and preach in 
a Baptist church in the town of Eutland, where Rutland 
"joins Le Ray. I made an appointment to preach there one 
afternoon. The weather had become warm, and I walked 
over, through a pine grove, about three miles to their place 
of worship. I arrived early, and found the house open, but 
nobody there. I was warm from having walked so far, and 
went in and took my seat near the broad aisle, in the centre 
of the house. Very soon people began to come in and take 
their seats here and there, scattered over the house. Soon 
the number increased so that they were coming continually. 
I sat still ; and, being an entire stranger there, no person 
came in that I knew, and I presume that no person that 
came in knew me. 

Presently a young woman came in, who had two or three 
tall plumes in her bonnet, and was rather gayly dressed. 
She was slender, tall, dignified, and decidedly handsome. 
I observed, as soon as she came in, that she waved her head 
and gave a very graceful motion to her plumes. She came 
as it were sailing around, and up the broad aisle toward 
where I sat, mincing as she came, at every step, waving hei 
great plumes most gracefully, looking around just enough 
to see the impression she was making. For such a place the 
whole thing was so peculiar that it struck me very much. 
She entered a slip directly behind me, in which, at the time, 
nobody was sitting. Thus we were near together, but eacn 
occupying a separate slip. I turned partly around, and looked 
at her from head to foot. She saw that I was observing her 
critically, and looked a little abashed. In a low voice I said 



116 JKTEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

to her, very earnestly, " Did you come in here to divide the 
worship of God's house, to make people worship you, to get 
their attention away from God and his worship ? " This 
made her writhe ; and I followed her up, in a voice so la" 
llu,t nobody else heard me, but I made her hear me dis- 
tinctly. She quailed under the rebuke, and could not hold 
np her head. She began to tremble, and when I had said 
enough to fasten the thought of her insufferable vanity on 
her mind, I arose and went into the pulpit. As soon as she 
saw me go into the pulpit, and that I was the minister that 
was about to preach, her agitation began to increase— so 
much so as to attract the attention of those around her. 
The house was soon full, and I took a text and went on to 
preach. 

The Spirit of the Lord was evidently poured out on the 
congregation ; and at the close of the sermon, I did what I 
do not know I had ever done before, called upon any who 
would give their hearts to God, to come forward and take the 
front seat. The moment I made the call, this young woman 
was the first to arise. She burst out into the aisle, and 
came forward, like a person in a state of desperation. She 
seemed to have lost all sense of the presence of anybody but 
God. She came rushing forward to the front seats, until 
she finally fell in the aisle, and shrieked with agony. A 
large number arose in different parts of the house and came 
forward ; and a goodly number appeared to give their hearts 
to God upon the spot, and among them this young woman. 
On inquiry I found that she was rather the belle of the 
place ; that she was an agreeable girl, but was regarded by 
everybody as very vain and dressy. 

Many years afterwards, I saw a man who called my atten- 
tion to that meeting. I inquired after this young woman. 
He informed me that he knew her well ; that she still resided 
there, was married, and was a very useful woman ; and had 
always, from that time, been a very earnest Christian. 

I preached a few times at this place, and then the ques- 



KETURtf TO EVAtfS* MILLS. 11? 

tion of G ouverneur came up again ; and God seemed to say 
to me, "Go to GouYerneur ; the time has come." Brother 
Nash had come a few days before this, and was spending 
some time with me. At the time of this last call to Gou- 
vernenr. I had some two or three appointments ahead, in that 
part of Rutland. I said therefore to brother Nash, " You 
must go to Gouverneur and see what is there, and come 
back and make your report." 

He started the next morning, and after he had been gone 
two or three days, returned, saying, that he had found a 
good many professors of religion, under considerable exer- 
cise of mind, and that he was confident that there was a 
good deal of the Spirit of the Lord among the people ; but 
that they were not aware what the state of things really 
was. I then informed the people where I was preaching, 
that I was called to Gouyemeur, and could make no more 
appointments to preach in that place. I requested Brother 
Nash to return immediately, informing the people that they 
might expect me on a certain day that week. 



CHAPTER X 

REVIVAL AT GOUVERHdUii. 

BROTHER Nash accordingly returned the next o4y, and 
made the appointment as I desired. I had to ride 
nearly thirty miles, I believe, to reach the pla^e. In the 
morning it rained very hard ; but the rain abated in time 
for me to ride to Antwerp. "While I was getting dinner at 
that place, the rain came on again, and literally poured, until 
quite late in the afternoon. It seemed in the morning be- 
fore I started, and at noon, that I should not be able to 
reach my appointment. However, the rain abated again, in 
time for me to ride rapidly to Gouverneur. I found that the 
people had given up expecting me that day, in consequence 
of the great raiu. 

Before I reached the village, I met a Mr. S , one' of 

the principal members of the church, returning from the 
church meeting to his house, which I had just passed. He 
stopped his carriage, and, addressing me, said, "Is this 
Mr. Finney ? " After my reply in the affirmative, he says, 
"Please to go back to my house, for I shall insist on your 
being my guest. « You are fatigued with the long ride and 
the roads are so bad, you will not have any meeting to- 
night." I replied that I must fulfil my appointment, and 
asked him if the church meeting had adjourned. He said 
it had not, when he left ; and he thought it possible I might 
reach the village before they would dismiss. 

I rode rapidly on, alighted at the meeting-house door, 
and hurried in. Brother Nash stood in front of the pulpit, 
having just risen up to dismiss the meeting. On seeing me 
enter, he held up his hands, and waited till I came near the 



EEVIYAL AT GOUVEBNEtTB. 119 

pulpit, and then lie took me right in his arms. After thug 
embracing me, he introduced me to the congregation In a 
word I informed them that I had come to fulfil my appoint- 
ment ; and, the Lord willing, I would preach at a certain 
hour which I named. 

When the hour arrived, the house was filled. The people 
had heard enough, for and against me, to have their curiosity 
excited, and there was a general turning out. The Lord gave 
me a text, and I went into the pulpit and let my heart out 
to the people. The word took powerful effect. That was 
very manifest to everybody, I think. I dismissed the meet- 
ing, and that night got some rest. 

The village hotel was at that time kept by a Dr. S , 

an avowed Universalist. The next morning I went out, aa 
usual, to call on the people, and converse with them about 
their souls, and found the village excited. After making a 
few calls, I dropped into a tailor's shop, where 1 found a 
number of people discussing the subject of the sermon the 
night before. 

Dr. S , at that time, I had never heard of ; but J 

found him among the number at this tailor's shop, and 
defending his Universalist sentiments. As I went in, the 
remarks that were made immediately opened the conversa- 
tion ; and Dr. S stepped forward, manifestly sustained 

by the whole influence of his comrades, to dispute the posi- 
tions that I had advanced, and to maintain, as opposed tc 
them, the doctrine of universal salvation. Somebody intro- 
duced him to me ; and I said to him, " Doctor, I should be 
very happy to converse with you about your views ; but if 
we are going to have a conversation, we must first agree 
upon the method upon which we are going to discuss." ] 
was too much used to discussing with Universalists, to expecl 
any good to come from it, unless certain terms were agreed 
upon and adhered to, in the discussion. I proposed, there- 
fore, first that we should take up one point at a time, and 
discuss it till we had settled it, or had no more to say up * 



120 MEMOIKS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

it, and then another, and another, confining ourselves to 
the point immediately in debate ; secondly, that we should 
not interrupt each other, but each one should be at liberty to 
give his views upon the point, without interruption ; and 
thirdly, that there should be no cavilling or mere banter, 
but that we should observe candor and courtesy, and give to 
every argument due weight, on whichsoever side it was 
presented. I knew they were all of one way of thinking ; 
and I could easily see that they were banded together, and 
had come together that morning, for the sake of sustaining 
each other in their views. 

Having settled the preliminaries, we commenced the 
argument. It did not take long to demolish every position 
that he assumed. He really knew but little of the Bible. 
He had a way of disposing of the principal passages, as he 
remembered them, that are generally arrayed against the 
doctrine of Universalism. But, as TJniversalists always do, 
he dwelt mainly on the utter injustice of endless punishment. 

I soon showed him, and those around him, that he had 
but slender ground to stand on, so far as the Bible was con- 
cerned ; and he very soon took the position, that whatever 
the Bible said about it, endless punishment was unjust; and 
that therefore, if the Bible threatened men with endless pun- 
ishment, it could not be true. This settled the question, so 
far as the Bible was concerned. In fact I could easily see 
that they were all skeptics, and would not at all give in 
because they saw that the Bible contradicted their views. I 
then closed in with him on the justice of endless punishment 
I saw that his Mends became agitated, and felt as if .he 
foundations were giving away under them. Pretty soon one 
of them went out ; and as I proceeded, another went out, and 
finally they all forsook him, seeing, as they must have done, 
one after the other, that he was utterly wrong. 

He had been their leader ; and God gave me thus an op- 
portunity to use him entirely up, in the presence of hia 
followers. When he had nothing more to say, I urged upoD 



REVIVAL AT GOUVEENEUB. 121 

hiin with warmth, the question of immediate attention to 
salvation, and very kindly bid him good morning, and went 
away, feeling sure that I should soon hear from that con- 
versation again. 

The doctor's wife was a Christian woman, and a member 
of the church. She told me a day or two after, that the 
Doctor came home from that conversation apparently greatly 
agitated, though she did not know where he had been. He 
would walk the room, and then sit down, but rould not 
remain sitting. He would thus walk and sit alternately ; 
and she could see in his countenance that he was greatly 
troubled. She said to him, "Doctor, what is the matter? " 
"Nothing," was his reply. But his agitation increased; 
and she inquired again, " Doctor, do tell me what is the 
matter." She suspected that he had somewhere fallen in 
with me ; and she said to him, "Doctor, have you seen Mr. 
Finney this morning ? " This brought him to a stand ; and 
he burst into tears and exclaimed, "Yes! and he has turned 
my weapons on my own head!" His agony became intense; 
and as soon as the way was opened for him to speak out, he 
surrendered himself up to his convictions, and soon after 
expressed hope in Christ. In a few days his companions 
were brought in, one after the other, till, I believe, the 
revival made a clean sweep of them. 

I have said that there was a Baptist church, and a Pres- 
byterian, each having a meeting-house standing upon the 
green, not far apart ; and that the Baptist church had a 
pastor, but the Presbyterian had none. As soon as the 
revival broke out, and attracted general attention, the Bap- 
tist brethren began to oppose it. They spoke against it, and 
used very objectionable means indeed to arrest its progress. 
This encouraged a set of young men to join hand in hand, to 
strengthen each other in opposition to the work. The 
Baptist church was quite influential ; and the stand that 
they took greatly emboldened the opposition, and seemed to 
give it a peculiar bitterness and strength, as might be ex- 
6 



122 MEMOIRS OF CHAELES G. FINNEY. 

pected. Those young men seemed to stand like a bulwark 
in the way of the progress of the work. 

In this state of things, brother Nash and myself, after 
consultation, made up our minds that that thing must be 
overcome by prayer, and that it could not be reached in any 
other way. We therefore retired to a grove and gave our- 
selves up to prayer until we prevailed, and we felt confident 
that no power which earth or hell could interpose, would be 
allowed permanently to stop the revival. 

The next Sabbath, after preaching morning and after- 
noon myself — for I did the preaching altogether, and 
brother Nash gave himself up almost continually to prayei 
— we met at five o'clock in the church, for a prayer meeting. 
The meeting-house was filled. Near the close of the meet- 
ing, brother Nash arose, and addressed that company oi 
young men who had joined hand in hand to resist the revival. 
I believe they were all there, and they sat braced up against 
the Spirit of God. It was too solemn for them really to 
make ridicule of what they heard and saw ; and yet their 
brazen-facedness and stiff-neckedness were apparent to 
everybody. 

Brother Nash addressed them very earnestly, and 
pointed out the guilt and danger of the course they were 
taking. Toward the close of his address, he waxed exceed- 
ing warm, and said to them, " Now, mark me, young men ! 
God will break your ranks in less than one week, either by 
converting some of you, or by sending some of you to hell, 
tie will do this as certainly as the Lord is my God ! " He 
vras standing where he brought his hand down on the top of 
the pew before him, so as to make it thoroughly jar. He sat 
immediately down, dropped his head, and groaned with 
pain. 

The house was as still as death, and most of the people 
held down their heads. I could see that the young men 
were agitated. For myself, I regretted that brother Nash 
had gone so far. He had committed himself, that God 



BBYIVAL AT GOUVEBNEUB, 123 

would either take the life of some of them, and send them 
to hell, or convert some of the in, within a week. However, 
on Tuesday morning of the same week, the leader of these 
young men came to me, in the greatest distress of mind. 
He was all prepared to submit ; and as soon as I came to 
press him he broke down like a child, confessed, and mani- 
festly gave himself to Christ. Then he said, " What shall I 
do, Mr. Finney ? " I replied " Go immediately to all your 
young companions, and pray with them, and exhort them, at 
once to turn to the Lord." He did so ; and before the week 
was out, nearly if not all of that class 'of young men, were 
hoping in Christ. 

There was a merchant living in the village by the name 

of S . He was a very amiable man, a gentleman, but a 

deist. His wife was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. 
She was his second wife ; and his first had also been the 
daughter of a Presbyterian minister. He had thus mar- 
ried into two ministers' families. His fathers-in-law had 
taken the greatest pains to secure his conversion to Christ. 
,He was a reading, reflecting man. Both of his fathers-in- 
law were old school Presbyterians, and had put into his 
hands the class of books that presented their peculiar views. 
This had greatly stumbled him ; and the more he had read, 
the more he was fixed in his convictions that the Bible was 
a fable. 

His wife urgently entreated me to come and converse 
with her husband. She informed me of his views, and of 
the pains that had been taken to lead him to embrace the 
Christian religion. But she said he was so firmly settled in 
his views, she did not know that any conversation could 
meet the case. Nevertheless, I promised to call and see 
him, and did so. His store was in the front part of the 
building in which they resided. She went into the store, 
and requested him to come in. He declined. He said it 
would do no good ; that he had talked with ministers 
enough ; that he knew just what I would say, beforehand. 



124 H.EMOIES OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

and he could not spend the time ; beside, it was very repul 

sive to his feelings. She replied to him, ".Mr. S , yon 

have never been in the habit of treating ministers, who 
called to see you, in this way. I have invited Mr. Finney 
to call and see you, to have a conversation on the subject of 
religion ; and I shall be greatly grieved and mortified, if you 
decline to see him." 

He greatly respected and loved his wife ; and she was 
indeed a gem of a woman. To oblige her, he consented to 

come in. Mrs. S introduced me to him, and left the 

room. I then said to him, " Mr. S , I have not come in 

here to have any dispute with you at all ; but if you are 
willing to converse, it is possible that I may suggest some- 
thing that may help you over some of your difficulties, in 
regard to the Christian religion, as I probably have felt them 
all myself." As I addressed him in great kindness, he imme- 
diately seemed to feel at home with me, and sat down near 
me and said, "Now, Mr. Finney, there is no need of our 
having a long conversation on this point. We are both of us 
so familiar with the arguments, on both sides, that I can 
state to you, in a very few minutes, just the objections to the 
Christian religion on which I rest, and which I find myself 
utterly unable to overcome. I suppose I know beforehand 
how you will answer them, and that the answer will be 
utterly unsatisfactory to me. But if you desire it, I will 
state them." 

I begged him to do so ; and he began, as nearly as I can 
recollect, in this way : "You and I agree in believing in the 
existence of God." "Yes." "Well, we agree that he is 
'nfinitely wise, and good, and powerful." "Yes." "We 
agree that he has, in our very creation, given us certain irre- 
sistible convictions of right and wrong, of justice and injust- 
ice." "Yes." "Well, we agree, then, that whatever con- 
travenes our irresistible convictions of justice, cannot be from 
God." "Yes," I said. "What, according to our irresisti- 
ble convictions, is neither wise nor good, cannot be from 



BBTIYAL AT GOUVEBtfEUR. 125 

God." " Yes," I said, "we agree in that." " Well now," 
said he, " the Bible teaches us that God has created us with 
a sinful nature, or that we come into existence totally sinful 
and incapable of any good, and this in accordance with cer- 
tain preestablished laws of which God is the author ; that 
notwithstanding this sinful nature, which is utterly incapable 
of any good, God commands us to obey him, and to be good, 
when to do so is utterly impossible to us ; and he commands 
ftris on pain of eternal death." 

I replied, ' ' Mr. S , haye you a Bible ? Will you not 

turn to the passage that teaches this ?" "Why, there is no 
need of that," he says ; "you admit that the Bible teaches 
it." "No," I said, "I do not believe any such thing." 
"Then," he continued, "the Bible teaches that God has 
imputed Adam's sin to all his posterity ; that we inherit the 
guilt of that sin by nature, and are exposed to eternal dam- 
nation for the guilt of Adam's sin. Now," said he, "I 
do not care who says it, or what book teaches such a thing, 
I know that such teaching cannot be from God. This is 
a direct contradiction of my irresistible convictions of right 
and justice." "Yes," I replied, "and so it is directly in 
contradiction of my own. But now," said I, " where is 
this taught in the Bible ? " 

He began to quote the catechism, as he had done before. 
" But," I replied, •'< that is catechism, not Bible." " Why," 
said he, " you are a Presbyterian minister, are you not ? I 
thought the catechism was good authority for you." " No," 
I said ; "we are talking about the Bible now — whether the 
Bible is true. Can you say that this is the doctrine of the 
Bible ? " " Oh," he said, " if you are going to deny that it 
is taught in the Bible — why, that is taking such ground as I 
never knew a Presbyterian minister to take." He then 
proceeded to say that the Bible commanded men to repent, 
but at the same time taught them that they could not repent 
it commanded them to obey and believe, and yet at. the 
same time taught them that this was impossible. I of course 



L26 MEMOIRS OF CHAKLES G. FINNEY. 

closed with him again, and asked him where these things 
were taught in the Bible. He quoted catechism ; but T 
would not receive it. 

He went on to say that the Bible taught also, that Christ 
died only for the elect ; and yet it commanded all men every 
where, whether elect or non-elect, to believe, on pain of 
eternal death. "The fact is," said he, "the Bible, in its 
commands and teachings, contravenes my innate sense of 
justice at every step. I cannot, I will not receive it ! " 
He became very positive and warm. But I said to him : 

"Mr. S , there is a mistake in this. These are not the 

teachings of the Bible. They are the traditions of men 
rather than the teachings of the Bible." " Well then," 
said he, "Mr. Finney, do tell me what you do believe!" 
This he said with a considerable degree of impatience. I 
6aid to' him, "If you will give me a hearing for a few 
moments, I will tell you what I do believe. I then began 
and told him what my views of both the law and the gospel 
were. He was intelligent enough to understand me easily 
and quickly. In the course of an hour, I should think, I 
took him over the whole ground of his objections. He 
hecame intensely interested ; and I saw that the views that I 
was presenting, were new to him. 

When I came to dwell upon the atonement, and showed 
that it was made for all men — dwelt upon its nature, its 
design, its extent, and the freeness of salvation through 
Christ, I saw his feelings rise, till at last he put both hands 
over his face, threw his head forward upon his knees, and 
trembled all over with emotion. I saw that the blood rushed 
to his head, and that the tears began to flow freely. I rose 
quickly and left the room without saying another word. 1 
saw that an arrow had transfixed him, and I expected him 
to be converted immediately. It turned out that he was 
converted before he left the room. 

Very soon after, the meeting-house bell tolled for a prayer 
and conference meeting ; I went into the meeting • and soon 



REVIVAL AT GOUVERIN EUR. 12? 

after the meeting commenced, Mr. and Mrs. S came in. 

His countenance showed that he had been greatly moved. 
The people looked around, and appeared surprised 10 see 

Mr. S come into a prayer-meeting. He had always 

been in the habit of attending worship on the Sabbath, I 
believe ; but to come into a prayer-meeting, and that in the 
daytime, was something new. For his sake, I took up a 
good deal of the time, at that meeting, in remarks, to which 
he paid the utmost attention. 

His wife afterward told me, that as he walked home when 
the jirayer-meeting was over, he said, " My dear, where has 
all my infidelity gone ? I cannot recall it. I cannot make 
it look as if it had any sense in it. It appears to me as if it 
always had been perfect nonsense. And how I could ever 
have viewed the subject as T did, or respected my own argu- 
ments as I did, I cannot imagine. It seems to me/' said he, 
"as if I had been called to pass judgment on some splendid 
piece of architecture, some magnificent temple ; and that as 
soon as I came in view of one corner of the structure, I fell into 
disgust, and turned away and refused to inspect it farther. 
I condemned the whole, without at all regarding its propor- 
tions. Just so I have treated the government of Clod.''' She 
said he had always been particularly bitter against the doc- 
trine of endless punishment. But on this occasion, as they 
were walking home, he said that, for the manner in which 
he had treated God, he deserved endless damnation. 

His conversion was very clear and decided. He warmly 
espoused the cause of Christ, and enlisted heartily in the 
promotion of the revival. He joined the church, and soon 
after became a deacon ; and to the day of his death, as I 
have been told, was a very useful man. 

After the conversion of Mr. S -, and of that class of 

young men to whom I have alluded, I thought it was time, 
if possible, to put a stop to the opposition of the Baptist 
church and minister. I therefore had an interview first 
with a deacon of the Baptist church, who had been very 



i2S MEilOIJiS OF CHARLES Q. EIXtfEY. 

bitter in his opposition ; and said to him, " Now you have 
carried your opposition far enough. You must be satisfied 
that this is the work of God. I have made no allusion in 
public to your opposition, and I do not wish to do so, or 
to appear to know that there is any such thing , but yon 
have gone far enough ; and I shall feel it my duty, if you do 
not stop immediately, to take you in hand, and expose your 
opposition from the pulpit." Tilings had got into such a 
state that I was sure that both God and the public would 
sustain me in carrying out the measure that I proposed. 

He confessed, and said that he was sorry ; and promised 
that he would make confession, and that he would not 
oppose the work any more. He said that he had made a 
great mistake, and had been deceived ; but that he also had 
been very wicked about it. He then went after his minis- 
ter ; and I had a long conversation with them together. The 
minister confessed that he had been all wrong ; that he had 
been deceived, and had been wicked ; and that his sec- 
tarian feeling had carried him too far. He hoped that I 
would forgive him, and prayed God to forgive him. I told 
him that I should take no notice whatever of the opposition 
of his church, provided they stopped it ; which they prom- 
ised to do. 

But I then said to him, " Now a considerable number 
of the young people, whose parents belong to your church, 
have been converted." If I recollect right, as many as 
forty of their young people had been converted in that 
revival. "Now," said I, "if you go to proselyting, that 
will create a sectarian feeling in both churches, and will 
be worse than any opposition which you have offered." I 
eaid to him, " In spite of your opposition, the work has gone 
on ; because the Presbyterian brethren have kept clear of a 
sectarian spirit, and have had the spirit of prayer. But if 
you go to proselyting, it will destroy the spirit of prayer, 
and will stop the revival immediately." He knew it, he 
gaid ; and therefore he would say nothing about receiving 



REVIVAL AT GOUVERKEUK. 129 

any of tlie converts, and would not open the doors of the 
church for their reception, until the revival was over ; and 
then, without any proselyting, let the converts all join 
which church they pleased. 

This was on Friday. The next day, Saturday, was the 
day for their monthly covenant meeting. When they had 
gathered, instead of keeping his word, he threw the doors of 
the church open and invited the converts to come forward 
and tell their experience and join the church. As many as 
could be persuaded to do so, told their experience ; and the 
next day there was a great parade in baptizing them. The 
minister sent off immediately, and secured the help of one of 
the most proselyting Baptist ministers that I ever knew. 
He came in and began to preach and lecture on baptism. 

They traversed the town for converts in every direction ; 
and whenever they could find any one to join, they would 
get up a procession, and march, and sing, and make a 
great parade in going to the water and baptizing them. 
This soon so grieved the Presbyterian church, as to destroy 
their spirit of prayer and faith, and the work came to a dead 
stand. For six weeks there was not a single conversion. 
All, both saints and sinners, were discussing the question of 
baptism. 

There was a considerable number of men, and some of 
them prominent men, in the village, that had been under 
strong conviction, and appeared to be near conversion, who 
had been entirely diverted by this discussion of baptism ; 
and indeed, this seemed to be the universal effect. Every- 
body could see that the revival had stopped ; and that the 
Baptists, although they had opposed the revival from the 
beginning, were bent upon having all the converts join their 
church. However, I think that a majority of those con 
verted, could not be persuaded to be immersed, although 
nothing had been said to them on the other side. 

I finally said to the people on the Sabbath, " You see how 
it is — that the work of conversion is suspended, and we do not 
6* 



2 30 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

know that a conversion has occurred now for six weeks ; 
and you know the reason." I did not tell them, at all, how 
the pastor of the Baptist church had violated his word, nor 
did I allude to it ; for I knew that it would do no good, but 
much hurt, to inform the people that he had been guilty of 
taking such a course. But I said to them, " Now I do not 
want to take up a Sabbath in preaching on this subject ; but 
if you will come on Wednesday afternoon at one o'clock, and 
bring your Bibles, and your lead pencils to mark the passages, 
I will read to you all the passages in the Bible that relate to 
the mode of baptism ; and I will give you as nearly as I un- 
derstand them, the views of our Baptist brethren on all those 
passages, together with my own ; and you shall judge for 
yourselves where the truth lies. 

When Wednesday came, the house was crowded. I saw 
quite a number of the Baptist brethren present. I began 
and read, first in the Old Testament, and then in the New, 
all the passages that had any reference to the mode of bap- 
tism, so far as I knew. I gave the views that the Baptists 
had of those texts, and the reasons for their views. I then 
gave my own views, and my reasons for them. I saw that 
the impression was decided and good, and that no bad spirit 
prevailed ; and the people appeared satisfied in regard to 
the mode of baptism. The Baptist brethren, so far as I 
know, were quite satisfied that I stated their views fairly, 
and as strongly as they could state them themselves, and also 
their reasons for them. Before I dismissed the meeting I 
said, "If you will come to-morrow, at the same hour, at 
one o'clock, I will read to you all the passages in the Bible 
that relate to the subjects of baptism, and pursue the same 
course as I have done to-day." 

The next day the house was crowded, if possible more 
than the day before. Quite a number of the principal Bap- 
tist brethren were present; and I observed the old elder, 
the great proselyter, sitting in the congregation. After 
going through with the introductory services, I arose and 



REVIVAL AT GOUVERtfEUR. 131 

commenced my reading. At this point the elder arose and 
said, "Mr. Finney, I have an appointment, and cannot 
stay to hear your readings. But I shall wish to answer you ; 
and how shall I know what course you take ? " I replied 
to him : "Elder, I have before me a little skeleton, where- 
in I quote all the passages that I shall read, and note the 
order in which I discuss the subject. You can have my 
skeleton, if you please, and reply to it." lie then went out, 
and, as I supposed, went away to attend his appointment. 

I then took up the covenant made with Abraham ; and 
read every thing in the Old Testament that directly bore 
upon the question of the relation of families and of children, 
to that covenant. I gave the Baptist view of the passages 
that I read, together with my own, with the reasons on both 
sides, as I had done the day before. I then took up the 
New Testament, and went through with all the passages in 
tkat, referring to the subject. The people waxed very mel- 
low ; and the tears flowed very freely when I held up that 
.covenant, as still the covenant which God makes with parents 
and their household. The congregation was much moved 
and melted. 

Just before I was through, the deacon of the Presby- 
terian church had occasion to go out, with a child that had 
sat with him during the long meeting. He told me after- 
wards that, as he went into the vestibule of the church, he 
found the old elder sitting there with the door ajar, and 
listening to what I was saying, and absolutely weeping 
himself. 

When I was done, the people thronged around me on 
every side, and with tears thanked me for so full and satis- 
factory an exhibition of that subject. I should have said 
that the meeting was attended, not only by members of the 
church, but by the community generally. The question was 
intelligently settled, and soon the people ceased to talk 
about it. In the course of a few days the spirit of prayer 
returned, and the revival was revived and went on again 



132 JiEMOIKS OB CHARLES G. FLNKEY. 

with great power. Not long after, the ordinances were 
Administered, and a large number of the converts united 
with the church. 

I have already intimated that I was a guest of Mr. S . 

He had a very interesting family. He and his wife, — called 
bj everybody, " Aunt Lucy " — had no children of their own ; 
but they had, from time to time, through the yearnings of 
their hearts, adopted one child after another, until they had 
ten ; and they were so nearly of an age that, at this time, his 
family was composed of himself, and "Aunt Lucy," his wife, 
and ten young people, I think about equally divided, young 
men and young women. They were all soon converted, and 
their conversions were very striking. They were bright con- 
verts, and very intelligent young people ; and a happier and 
more lovely family I never saw than they were when they 
were all converted. 

But Aunt Lucy had been converted under other circum- 
stances, when there was no revival ; and she had never 
before seen the freshness, and strength, and joy of converts 
in a powerful revival. Their faith and love, their joy and 
peace, completely stumbled her. She began to think that 
she was never converted ; and although she had given her- 
self, heart and soul, to the promotion of the work, yet, right 
in the midst of it, she fell into despair, in spite of all that 
could be said or done. She concluded that she never had 
been converted, and of course that she never could be. 

This introduced into the family a matter of great pain 
and concern. Her husband thought she would go deranged. 
The young people, who all regarded her as a mother, were 
filled with concern about her ; and indeed the house was 
thrown into mourning. Mr. S gave up his time to con- 
verse and to pray with her, and to try to revive her hope. 
I had several conversations with her ; but in the great light 
which the experience of those young converts, to which she waa 
daily listening, threw around her, she could not be persuaded to 
believe, either that she ever was converted, or ever could be. 



REVIVAL AT GOUVEBtfEUB. 133 

This state of things continued day after day, till I began 
myself to think that she would be deranged. The street on 
which they lived was a thickly settled street, almost a village, 
for some three miles in extent. The work had extended on 
that street until there was but one adult unconverted person 

left. He was a young man, by the name of B H , 

and he was almost frantic in his opposition to the work. 
Almost the whole neighborhood gave themselves to prayer 
for this young man, and his case was in almost everybody's 
mouth. 

One day I came in, and found Aunt Lucy taking on very 

much about this B H . "Oh dear!" she said; 

"what will become of him ? Why, Mr. S ! he will cer- 
tainly lose his soul ! What will become of him ? " She 
seemed to be in the greatest agony, lest that young man 
should lose his soul. I listened to her for a few moments, 
and then looked gravely at her, and said: "Aunt Lucy, 

when you and B H die, God will have to make a 

partition in hell, and give you a room by yourself." She 
opened her large blue eyes, and looked at me with a reprov- 
ing look. " Why, Mr. Finney ! " said she. " Just so," I said. 
" Do you think God will be guilty of so great an impropriety, 

as to put you and B H in the same place ? Here 

he is, raving against God ; and you are almost insane in feel- 
ing the abuse which he heaps upon God, and with the fear 
that he is going to hell. Now can two such persons, in two 
such opposite states of mind, do you think, be sent to the 
same place ? " I calmly met her reproving gaze, and looked 
her steadily in the face. In a few moments her features 
relaxed, and she smiled, the first time for many days. "It 

is just so, my dear," said Mr. S , "just so. How can 

you and B H go to the same place ? " She laughed 

and said, "We cannot." From that moment her despair 
cleared up ; and she came out clear, and as happy as any of 

the young converts. This B H was afterward 

converted. 



134 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

About three-quarters of a mile from Mr. S 's lived a Mr 

M , who was a strong Universalist, and, for a considera- 
ble time, kept away from our meetings. One morning, Fathei 

Nash, who was at the time with me at Mr. S ? s, rose up, 

as his custom was, at a very early hour ; and went back to a 
grove some fifty rods, perhaps, from the road, to have a 
season of prayer alone. It was before sunrise ; and brothei 
Nash, as usual, became very much engaged in prayer. It 
was one of those clear mornings, on which it is possible to 

hear sounds a great distance. Mr. M had risen, and was 

out of doors at that early hour in the morning, and heard 
the voice of prayer. He listened, and could distinctly hear 
Father Nash's voice. He knew it was prayer, he afterward 
said ; though he could not distinguish much that was said. 
He, however, said that he knew what it was, and who it 
was. And it lodged an arrow in his heart. He said it 
brought a sense of the reality of religion over him, such as 
he never had experienced before. The arrow was fastened. 
He found no relief, till he found it in believing in Jesus. 

I do not know the number of those converted in tha* 
revival. It was a large farming town, settled by well-to-do 
inhabitants. The great majority of them, I am confident, 
were, in that revival, converted to Christ. 

I have not been in that place for many years. But I 
have often heard from there ; and have always understood 
that there has been a very healthful state of religion in that 
place, and that they have never had anything like a dis- 
cussion on the subject of baptism since. 

The doctrines preached in promoting that revival, weie 
those that I have preached everywhere. The total moral, 
voluntary depravity of unregenerate man ; the necessity of a 
radical change of heart, through the truth, by the agency 
of the Holy Ghost ; the divinity and humanity of our Lord 
Jesus Christ ; his vicarious atonement, equal to the wants of 
all mankind ; the gift, divinity and agency of the Holy 
Ghost ; repentance, faith, justification by faith, sanctificatiou 



BEVTVAL AT GOUYEBKEUii. 135 

by faith ; persistence in holiness as a condition of salvation ; 
indeed all the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel, were stated 
and set forth with as much clearness, and point, and power, 
as were possible to me under the circumstances. A great 
spirit of prayer prevailed ; and after the discussion on bap- 
tism, a spirit of most interesting unity, brotherly love, and 
Christian fellowship prevailed. I never had occasion 
finally, to rebuke the opposition of the Baptist brethren 
publicly, In my readings on the subject of baptism, the 
Lord enabled me to maintain such a spirit that no con- 
troversy was started, and no controversial spirit prevailed. 
The discussion produced no evil result, but great good, and 
so far »8 I could see, only good. 



CHAPTEK XL 

REVIVAL AT DE KALB. 

FROM Gouverneur I went to De Kalb, another villags 
still further north, some sixteen miles, I think. Here 
were a Presbyterian church and minister ; but the church 
was small, and the minister seemed not to have a very 
strong hold upon the people. However, I think he was 
decidedly a good man. I began to hold meetings in De 
Kalb, in different parts of the town. The village was small 
and the people were very much scattered. The country was 
new, and the roads were new and bad. But a revival com- 
menced immediately, and went forward with a good deal of 
power, for a place where the inhabitants were so much 
scattered. 

A few years before, there had been a revival there under 
the labors of the Methodists. It had been attended with a 
good deal of excitement ; and many cases had occurred of, 
what the Methodists call, " Falling under the power of God." 
This the Presbyterians had resisted, and, in consequence, a 
bad state of feeling had arisen, between the Methodists and 
the Presbyterians ; the Methodists accusing the Presbyterians 
of having opposed the revival among them because of these 
cases of falling. As nearly as I could learn, there was a 
good deal of truth in this, and the Presbyterians had been 
decidedly in error. 

I had not preached long, before, one evening, just at the 
close of my sermon, I observed a man fall from his seat near 
the door ; and the people gathered around him to take care 
of him. Prom what I saw, I was satisfied that it was a case 
of falling under the power of God, as the Methodists would 



REVIVAL AT DE KALi*. 137 

express it, and supposed that it was a Methodist. I must 
say that I had a little fear that it might reproduce that state 
of division and alienation that had before existed. But on 
inquiry I learned that it was one of the principal members 
of the Presbyterian church, that had fallen. And it was 
remarkable that during this revival, there were several cases 
of this kind among the Presbyterians, and non e among the 
Methodists. This led to such confessions and explanations 
among the members of the different churches, as to secure a 
state of great cordiality and good feeling among them. 

While laboring at De Kalb, I 'first became acquainted 

with Mr. P , of Ogdensburgh. He heard of the revival in 

De Kalb, and came from Ogdensburgh, some sixteen miles, to 
see it. He was wealthy, and very benevolent. He proposed 
to employ me as his missionary, to work in the towns 
throughout that county, and he would pay me a salary. 
However, I declined to pledge myself to preach in any par- 
ticular place, or to confine my labors within any given 
lines. 

Mr. P spent several days with me, in visiting from 

house to house, and in attending our meetings. He had 
been educated in Philadelphia, an old school Presbyterian, 
and was himself an elder in the Presbyterian church in 
Ogdensburgh. On going away, he left a letter for me, con- 
taining three ten dollar bills. A few days later he came up 
again, and spent two or three days, and attended our meet- 
ings, and became very much interested in the work. When 
he went away he left another letter, containing, as before, 
three ten dollar bills. Thus I found myself possessed of 
sixty dollars, with which I immediately purchased a buggy. 
Before this time, though I had a horse, I had no carriage ; 
and my young wife and myself used to go a good deal on foot, 
to meeting. 

The revival took a very strong hold of the church in this 
place ; and among others, one of the elders of the church, 
by the name of B , was thoroughly broken up and broken 



138 MEMOIRS OF CHABLES G. FINNEY. 

down, and became quite another man. The impressior 

deepened on the public mind from day to day. 

One Saturday, just before evening, a German merchant 

tailor, from Ogdensburgh, by the name of F , called on 

me, and informed me that Squire F had sent him from 

Ogdensburgh, to take my measure for a suit of clothes. I 
had begun to need clothes, and had once, not long before, 
spoken to the Lord about it, that my clothes were getting 

shabby ; but it had not occurred to me again. Mr. F i 

however, had observed it ; and sent this man, who was a 
Roman Catholic, to take my measure. I asked him if he 
would not stay over the Sabbath, and take my measure 
Monday morning. I said, "It is too late for you to return 
to-night ; and if I allow you to take my measure to-night, 
you will go home to-morrow." He admitted that he ex- 
pected to do so. I said, " Then you shall not take it. If 
you will not stay till Monday morning, I will not be meas- 
ured for a suit of clothes." He remained. 

The same afternoon there were other arrivals from 

Ogdensburgh ; and among them was an elder S , who 

was a brother elder in the same church with Mr. F 

Mr. S 's son, an unconverted young man, came with him. 

Elder S attended meeting in the morning, and at 

the intermission was invited by elder B to go home 

with him, and get some refreshment. Elder B was full 

of the Holy Spirit ; and on the way home he preached to 

elder S , who was at the time very cold and backward 

in religion. Elder S was very much penetrated by his 

words. 

Soon after they entered the house the table was spread, 
and they were invited to sit down and take some refresh- 
ment. As they drew around the table, elder S said to 

elder B , "How did you get this blessing?" Elder 

B replied, "I stopped lying to God." Said he, "All 

my Christian life I have been making pretences, and asking 
God for things that I was not, on the whole, willing to have ; 



EEVIVAL AT DB KjLLB. 13S 

and I had gone on and prayed as other people prayed, and 
often had been insincere, and really lied to God." He con- 
tinued: " As soon as I made up my mind that I never would 
say anything to God in prayer, that 1 did not really mean, 
God answered me ; and the Spirit came down and I was 
filled with the Holy Ghost." 

At this moment Mr. S , who had not commenced to 

eat, shoved his chair back from the table, and fell on hid 
knees and began to confess how he had lied to God ; and 
how he had played the hypocrite in his prayers, as well as in 
his life. The Holy Ghost fell upon him immediately, and 
filled him as full as he could hold. 

In the afternoon the people had assembled for worship, 
and I was standing in the pulpit reading a hymn. I heard 
somebody talking very loud, and approaching the house, the 
door and windows being open. Directly two men came in. 

Elder B I knew ; the other man was a stranger. As 

soon as he came in at the door, he lifted his eyes to me, 
came straight into the desk, and took me up in his arms : — 
"God bless you !" said he "God bless you !" He then 
began aDd told me, and told the congregation, what the 
Lord had just done for his soul. 

His countenance was all in a glow ; and he was so changed 
in his appearance, that those that knew him were perfectly 
astonished at the change. His son who had not known 01 
this change in his father, when he saw and heard him, rose 
up and was hastening out of the church. His father cried 
out, " Do not leave the house, my son ; for I never loved 
you before." He went on to speak ; and the power with 
which he spoke was perfectly astonishing. The people 
melted down on every side ; and his son broke down almost 
immediately. 

Very soon the Roman Catholic tailor, Mr. F -, rose 

up, and said, "I must tell you what the Lord has done for 
my soul. I was brought up, a Roman Catholic j and I 
never dared to read my Bible. I was told that if I did, the 



140 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

devil would carry me off bodily. Sometimes when I dared 
to look into it, it seemed as if the devil was peering over my 
shoulder, and had come to carry me off. But," said he, " I 
see it is all a delusion." And he went on to tell what the 
Lord had done for him, just there on the spot — what viewa 
the Lord had given him of the way of salvation by Jesua 
Christ. It was evident to everybody that he was converted. 

This made a great impression on the congregation. I 
could not preach. The whole course of the meeting had 
taken on a type which the Lord had given it. I sat still, 
and saw the salvation of God. All that afternoon, conver- 
sions were multiplied in every part of the congregation. As 
they arose one after another, and told what the Lord had 
done, and was doing, for their souls, the impression in- 
creased; and so spontaneous a movement by the Holy 
Ghost, in convicting and converting sinners, I had scarcely 
ever seen. 

The next day this elder S- — .returned to Ogdensburgh. 
But, as I understand, he made many calls on the way, and 
conversed and prayed with many families ; and thus the 
revival was extended to Ogdensburgh. 

In the early part of October, the synod to which I be- 
longed, met in Utica. I took my wife, and we went down 
to Utica to attend the synod, and to visit her father's 
family living near Utica. 

Mr. Gale, my theological teacher, had left Adams not 
long after I left it myself ; and had removed to a farm in 
the town Of Western, Oneida county, where he was endeavor- 
ing to regain his health, and was v employed in teaching some 
young men, who proposed to prepare themselves to preach 
the Gospel. I spent avfew days at the synod at Utica, and 
then set out on my return to my former field of labor, in 
St. Lawrence county. 

We had not gone more than a dozen miles when we met 
Mr. Gale m his carriage, on his way to Utica. He leaped 
from his carriage and said, " God bless you, Brother Finney , 



BBVIVAL AT DE KALB. 141 

I was going down to the synod to see you. You must go 
home with me ; I cannot be denied. I do not believe that 
I ever was converted ; and I wrote the other day to Adams, 
to know where a letter would reach you, as I wanted to 
open my mind to you on the subject." He was so impor- 
tunate that I consented ; and we drove immediately to 
Western. 

In reflecting upon what I have said of the revivals of 
religion, in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, I am not 
quite sure that I have laid as much stress as I intended 
upon the manifest agency of the Holy Spirit, in those 
revivals. I wish it to be distinctly understood, in all that I 
shall say, in my narrative of the revivals that I have wit- 
nessed, that I always in my own mind, and practically, laid 
the utmost stress upon this fact, underlying, directing, and 
giving efficiency to the means, without which nothing would 
be accomplished. 

I have said, more than once, that the spirit of prayer 
that prevailed in those revivals was a very marked feature of 
them. It was common for young converts to be greatly 
exercised in prayer ; and in some instances, so much so, that 
they were constrained to pray whole nights, and until theii 
bodily strength was quite exhausted, for the conversion of 
souls around them. There was a great pressure of the 
Holy Spirit upon the minds of Christians ; and they seemed 
to bear about with them the burden of immortal souls. 
They manifested the greatest solemnity of mind, and the 
greatest watchfulness in all their words and actions. It 
was very common to find Christians, whenever they met in 
any place, instead of engaging in conversation, to fall on 
their knees in prayer. 

Not only were prayer-meetings greatly multiplied and 
fully attended, not only was there great solemnity in those 
meetings ; but there was a mighty spirit of secret prayer. 
Christians prayed a great deal, many of • them spending 
many hours in private prayer. It was also the case that 



142 MEMOIRS OF CHAKLES Q. FINNEY. 

two, or more, would take the promise : "If two of you shali 
agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it 
shall he done for them of my Father which is in heaven," 
and make some particular person a subject of prayer ; and 
it was wonderful to what an extent they prevailed. Answers 
to prayer were so manifestly multiplied on every side, that 
no one could escape the conviction that God was daily and 
hourly answering prayer. 

If anything occurred that threatened to mar the work, 
if there was any appearance of any root of bitterness spring- 
ing up, or any tendency to fanaticism or disorder, Christians 
would take the alarm, and give themselves to prayer that 
God would direct and control all things ; and it was surpris- 
ing to see, to what extent, and by what means, God would 
remove obstacles out of the way, in answer to prayer. 

In regard to my own experience, I will say that unless I 
had the spirit of prayer I could do nothing. If even for a 
day or an hour I lost the spirit of grace and supplication, I 
found myself unable to preach with power and efficiency, or 
to win souls by personal conversation. In this respect my 
experience was what it has always been. 

For several weeks before I left De Kalb to go to the 
synod, I was very strongly exercised in prayer, and had an 
experience that was somewhat new to me. I found myself 
so much exercised, and so borne down with the weight of 
immortal souls, that I was constrained to pray without ceas- 
ing. Some of my experiences, indeed, alarmed me. A spirit 
of importunity sometimes came upon me so that I would say 
to God that he had made a promise to answer prayer, and I 
could not, and would not, be denied. I felt so certain that 
he would hear me, and that faithfulness to his promises, and 
to himself, rendered it impossible that he should not heai 
and answer, that frequently I found myself saying to him, 
" I hope thou dost not think that I can be denied. I come 
with thy faithful promises in my hand, and I cannot be 
denied." I cannot tell how absurd unbelief looked to me, 



REVTVAL AT DE KALB. 143 

and how certain it was, in my mind, that God would answei 
prayer — those prayers that, from day to day, and from hour 
to hour, I found myself offering in such agony and faith. I 
had no idea of the shape the answer would take, the locality 
in which the prayers would be answered, or the exact time 
of the answer. My impression was that the answer was near, 
even at the door ; and I felt myself strengthened in the divine 
life, put on the harness for a mighty conflict with the powers 
of darkness, and expected soon to see a far more powerful 
outpouring of the Spirit of God, in that new country wh9re 
I had been laboring. 



CHAPTER XIL 

REVIVAL AT WESTEBtf. 

I HAVE spoken of my turning aside to Western, as I was 
returning from the synod at Utica. At this place, com- 
menced that series of revivals, afterward called "The West- 
ern Revivals." So far as I know these revivals first attracted 
the notice, and excited the opposition of certain prominent 
ministers at the East, and raised the cry of " New Meas- 
ures." 

The churches in that region were mostly Presbyterian. 
There were in that county, however, three Congregational 
ministers who called themselves "The Oneida Associa 
tion," who, at the time, published a pamphlet against those 
revivals. This much we knew ; but as the pamphlet made 
no public impression that we could learn, no public notice, 
so far as I am aware, was ever taken of it. We thought it 
likely that that association had much to do with the opposi- 
tion that was raised in the East. Their leader, Rev. William 
R. Weeks, as was well known, embraced and propagated the 
peculiar doctrines of Dr. Emmons, and insisted very much 
upon what he called "The divine efficiency scheme." His 
peculiar views on this subject naturally led him to be sus- 
picious of whatever was not connected with those views, in 
preaching, and in the means that were used to promote a 
revival. He seemed to have little or no confidence in any 
conversions that did not bring men to embrace his views of 
divine efficiency and divine sovereignty ; and as those of us 
who labored in those revivals had no sympathy with his 
views in that respect, it was very natural for him to have 
but little confidence in the genuineness of the revivals. But 



REVIVAL AT WESTERK. 146 

we never supposed that the whole of the opposition could have 
originated in representations made by any of the members of 
that association. 

No public replies were made to the letters that found 
their way into the public prints, nor to anything that was 
published in opposition to the revivals. Those of us who 
were engaged in them had our hands too full, and our 
hearts too full, to turn aside to reply to letters or reports 
or publications that so manifestly misrepresented the char- 
acter of the work. The fact that no answers were made at 
the time, left the public abroad, and without the range of 
those revivals, and where the facts were not known, to mis- 
apprehend their character. So much misapprehension came 
to exist, that it has been common for good men, in referring 
to those revivals, to assume, that although they were, upon 
the whole, revivals of religion ; yet, that they were so con- 
ducted that great disorders were manifest in them, and that 
there was much to deplore in their results. 

Now all this is an entire mistake. I shall relate as fairly 
as I can, the characteristics of these revivals, the measures 
that were used in promoting them, and disclose, to the best 
of my ability, their real character and results ; understand- 
ing well, as I do, that there are multitudes of living witnesses, 
who can attest the truth of what I say, or if, in anything, I 
am mistaken, can correct me. 

And now I will turn to Western, where these revivals 
commenced, in Oneida county. I have said, that Mr. Gale 
had settled upon a farm in Western ; and was employing 
some young men, in helping to cultivate the farm, and was 
engaged in teaching them, and endeavoring to regain his 
health. I went directly to his house, and for several weeks 
was his guest. We arrived there Thursday, I think, and 
that afternoon there was a stated prayer-meeting, in the 
school-house, near the church. The church had no settled 
minister, and Mr. Gale was unable to preach ; indeed, he 
did not go there to preach, but simply for his health, I te- 
7 



146 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. PINSTEY. 

lieve they usually had a minister only a part of the time , 
and for sometime previously to my going there, I think, they 
bad had no stated preaching at all, in the Presbyterian 
church. There were three elders in the church, and a few 
members ; but the church was very small, and religion was 
at low water mark. There seemed to be no life, or courage, 
or enterprise, on the part of Christians ; and nothing was 
doing to secure the conversion of sinners, or the sanctifica- 
tion of the church. 

In the afternoon Mr. Gale invited me to go to the prayer- 
meeting, and I went. They asked me to take the lead of the 
meeting ; but I declined, expecting to be there only for that 
afternoon, ami preferring rather to hear them pray and talk, 
than to take part in the meeting myself. The meeting was 
opened by one of the elders, who read a chapter in the Bible, 
then a hymn, which they sung. After this he made a long 
prayer, or perhaps I should say an exhortation, or gave a 
narrative — I hardly know what to call it. He told the Lord 
how many years they had been holding that prayer-meeting 
weekly, and that no answer had been given to their prayers. 
He made such statements and confessions as greatly shocked 
me. After he had done, another elder took up the same 
theme. He read a hymn, and, after singing, engaged in a 
long prayer, in which he went over very nearly the same 
ground, making such statements as the first one had omitted. 
Then followed the third elder, in the same strain. By this 
time I could say with Paul, that my spirit was stirred within 
me. They had got through, and were about to dismiss the 
meeting. But one of the elders asked me if I would not 
make a remark, before they dismissed. I arose and took 
their statements and confessions for a text ; and it seemed to 
me, at the time, that God inspired me to give them a terri- 
ble searching. 

When I arose, I had no idea what I should say ; but the 
Spirit of God came upon me, and I took up their prayers, 
and statements, and confessions, and dissected them. I 



REVIVAL AT WESTERN. 14? 

showed them rip, and asked if it had been understood that 
that prayer-meeting was a mock prayer-meeting — whether 
fchey had come together professedly to mock God, by imply- 
ing that all the blame of what had been passing all this time, 
was to be ascribed to his sovereignty ? 

At first I observed that they all looked angry. Some of 
them afterward said, that they were on the point of getting 
up and going out. But I followed them up on the track of 
their prayers and confessions, until the elder, who was the 
principal man among them, and opened the meeting, burst- 
ing into tears, exclaimed, "Brother Finney, it is all true ! " 
He fell upon his knees and wept aloud. This was the signal 
for a general breaking down. Every man and woman went 
down upon their knees. There were probably not more 
than a dozen present ; but they were the leading members 
in the church. They all wept, and confessed, and broke 
their hearts before God. This scene continued, I presume, 
for an hour ; and a more thorough breaking down and con- 
fession I have seldom witnessed. 

As soon as they recovered themselves somewhat, they 
besought me to remain and preach to them on the Sabbath. 
I regarded it as the voice of the Lord, and consented to do 
so. This was Thursday, at night. On Friday, my mind 
was greatly exercised. I went off frequently into the church, 
to engage in secret prayer, and had a mighty hold upon God. 
The news was circulated, and on Sabbath the church was 
full of hearers. I preached all day, and God came down 
with great power upon the people. It was manifest to every 
body that the work of grace had begun. I made appoint- 
ments to preach in different parts of the town, in school- 
houses, and at the centre, during the week ; and the work 
increased from day to day. 

In the meantime, my own mind was much exercised in 
prayer ; and I found that the spirit of prayer was prevail- 
ing, especially among the female members of the church. 
Mrs. B and Mrs. H- , the wives of two of the elders 



148 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItfKEY. 

of the church, I found, were, almost immediately, gieatlj 
exercised in prayer. Each of them had families of uncon- 
verted children ; and they laid hold in prayer with an 
earnestness that, to me, gave promise that their families must 

he converted. Mrs. H , however, was a woman of very 

fee hie health, and had not ventured out much, to any meeting, 
for a long time. But, as the day was pleasant, she was out at 
the prayer-meeting to which I have alluded, and seemed to 
catch the inspiration of that meeting, and took it home 
with her. 

It was the next week, I think, that I called in at Mr. 

H 's, and found him pale and agitated. He said to me 

"Brother Finney, I think my wife will die. She is so 
exercised in her mind that she cannot rest day or night, but 
is given up entirely to prayer. She has been all the 
morning," said he, " in her room, groaning and struggling in 
prayer ; and I am afraid it will entirely overcome her 
strength." Hearing my voice in the sitting-room, she came 
out from her bed-room, and upon her face was a most heav- 
enly glow. Her countenance was lighted up with a hope 
and a joy that were plainly from heaven. She exclaimed, 
" Brother Finney, the Lord has come ! This work will 
spread over all this region ! A cloud of mercy overhangs 
us all ; and we shall see such a work of grace as we have 
never yet seen." Her husband looked surprised, con- 
founded, and knew not what to say. It was new to him, 
but not to me. I had witnessed such scenes before, and 
believed that prayer had prevailed ; nay. I felt sure of it in 
tny own soul. 

The work went on, spread, and prevailed, until it began 
to exhibit unmistakable indications of the direction in 
which the Spirit of God was leading from that place. The 
distance to Rome was nine miles, I believe. About half 
way, was a small village, called Elmer's Hill. There was a 
large school-house, where I held a weekly lecture ; and it 
goon became manifest that the work was spreading in the 



REVIVAL AT WESTERN. 149 

direction of Rome and Utica. There was a settlement 
northeast of Rome, about three miles, called Wright's settle- 
ment. Large numbers of persons came down to attend the 
meetings at Elmer's Hill, from Rome and from Wright's 
settlement ; and the work soon began to take effect among 
them. 

But I must relate a few of the incidents that occurred in 

the revival at Western. Mrs. B , to whom I have 

already alluded, had a large family of unconverted chil- 
dren. One of the sons was, I believe, a professor of reli- 
gion, and lived at Utica ; the rest of the family were at 
home. They were a very amiable family ; and the eldest 
daughter, especially, had been manifestly regarded by the 
family as almost perfect. I went in several times to con- 
verse with her ; but I found that the family were so tender 
of her feelings that I could not strip away her self -righteous- 
ness. She had evidently been made to believe that she was 
almost, if not quite a Christian. Her life had been so 
irreproachable, that it was very difficult to convict her of 
sin. The second daughter was also a very amiable girl ; 
but she did not regard herself as worthy to be compared 
with the eldest, in respect to amiability and excellence of 
character. 

One day when I was talking with S , the eldest, and 

trying to make her see herself as a great sinner, notwith- 
standing her morality, C , the second daughter said to 

me, " Mr. Finney I think that you are too hard upon 

S . If you should talk so to me, I should feel that I 

deserved it ; but I don't think that she does." After being 
defeated several times in my attempts to secure the convic- 
tion and conversion of S , I made up my mind to bide 

m} time, and improve some opportunity when I should find 
her away from home, or alone. It was not long before the 
opportunity came. I entered into conversation with her, 
and by God's help stripped the covering from her heart, and 
she was brought under powerful conviction for sin. The 



150 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G FINNEY. 

Spirit pursued her with mighty power. The family were 

surprised and greatly distressed for S ; but God pushed 

the question home till, after a struggle of a few days, she 
broke thoroughly down, and came out into the kingdom, as 
beautiful a convert as, perhaps, I have ever seen. Her con 
victions were so thorough, that when she came out, she was 
strong in faith, clear in her apprehension of duty and of 
truth, and immediately became a host in her power for good 
among her friends and acquaintances. 

In the meantime, C , the second daughter, became 

very much alarmed about herself, and very anxious for the 
salvation of her own soul. The mother seemed to be in real 
travail of soul day and night. I called in to see the family 
almost daily, and sometimes, two or three times a day. One 
of the children after another was converted ; and we were 

expecting every day to see C come out a bright convert. 

But for some reason she lingered. It was plain the Spirit 
was resisted ; and one day I called to see her, and found her 
in the sitting-room alone. I asked her how she was getting 
on, and she replied, ' ' Mr. Finney, I am losing my convic- 
tion. I do not feel nearly as much concerned about myself 
as I have done." Just at this moment, a door was opened, 

and Mrs. B came into the room, and I told her what 

C had said. It shocked her so that she groaned aloud, 

and fell prostrate on the floor. She was unable to rise ; and 
she struggled and groaned out her prayers, in a manner that 

immediately indicated to me that C must be converted. 

She was unable to say much in words, but her groans and 
tears witnessed the extreme agony of her mind. As soon as 
ohis scene had occurred, the Spirit of God manifestly came 

upon C afresh. She fell upon her knees, and before 

she arose she broke down ; and became to all appearance 

as thorough a convert as S was. The B children, 

sons and daughters, were all converted at that time, I be- 
lieve, except the youngest, then a little child. One of the 
eons has preached the gospel for many years. 



BEV1VAL AT WESTEBK. 151 

Among other incidents, I recollect the case of a young 
woman, in a distant part of the town, who came to the meet- 
ing at the centre almost every day. I had conversed with 
her several times, and found her deeply convicted, and, 
indeed, almost in despair. I was expecting to hear, from 
day to day, that she had been converted ; but she remained 
stationary, or rather despair increased upon her. This led 
me to suspect that something was wrong at home. I asked 
her if her parents were Christians. She said they were 
members of the church. I asked her if they attended meet- 
ings. She said, "Yes, on the Sabbath." "Do not your 
parents attend meetings at other times ?" "No," was the 
reply. " Do you have family prayers at home ? " " No 
sir," she said. "We used to have; but we have not had 
family prayers for a long time." This revealed to me the 
stunibling-block,-.at once. I inquired when I could probably 
find her father and mother at home. She said, almost any 
time, as they were seldom away from home. Feeling that it 
was infinitely dangerous to leave this case as it was, I went 
the next morning to see the family. 

This daughter was, I think, an only child ; at any rate, 
she was the only child at home. I found her bowed down, 
dejected, and sunken in despair. I said to the mother, 
"The Spirit of the Lord is striving with your daughter." 
" Yes," she said, "I don't know but he is." I asked 
her if she was praying for her. She gave me an answer that 
led me to understand that she did not know what it was to 
pray for her. I inquired for her husband. She said that 
he was in the field at work. I asked her to call him in. 
He came, and as he came in I said to him, "Do you see the 
6tate that your daughter is in? " He replied that he thought 
she felt very bad. "And are you awake, and engaged in 
prayer for her ? " His answer revealed the fact that if 
he was ever converted he was a miserable backslider, and 
had no hold upon God whatever. "And," said I, "you do 
not \ave family prayers. " "No sir." "Now," said I, "I 



152 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. EltftfEY. 

have seen your daughter , day after day, bowed down with 
conviction, and I have learned that the difficulty is here at 
home. You have shut up the kingdom of heaven against 
your daughter. You neither enter yourself, nor will you 
suffer her to enter. Your unbelief and worldly-mindednesa 
prevent the conversion of your daughter, and will ruin your 
own soul. Now you must repent. I do not intend to leave 
this house until you and your wife repent, and get out of the 
way of your daughter. You must establish family prayer, 
and build up the altar that has fallen down. Now, my dear 
sir, will you get down here on your knees, you and your 
wife, and engage in prayer ? And will you promise, that 
from this time you will do your duty, set up your family 
altar, and return to God ? " 

I was so earnest with them, that they both began to weep. 
My faith was so strong, that I did not trifle when I told them 
that I would not leave the house, until they would repent, 
and establish their family altar. I felt that the work must 
be done, and done then. I cast myself down upon my knees 
and began to pray ; and they knelt down and wept sorely. 
I confessed for them as well as I could, and tried to lead them 
to God, and to prevail with God in their behalf. It was a 
moving scene. They both broke down their hearts, and con 
fessed their sins ; and before we rose from our knees the 
daughter got into liberty, and was manifestly converted. 
She arose rejoicing in Christ. Many answers to prayer, and 
many scenes of great interest were presented in this revival. 

There was one passage of my own experience that, for 
the honor of God, I must not omit to relate in this connec- 
tion. I had preached and prayed almost continually during 
the time that I had been at Mr. Gale's. As I was accustomed 
to use my voice in privato^prayer, for convenience' sake, that 
I might not be heard, I had spread a buffalo robe on the 
hay-loft ; where I used to spend much of my time, when not 
abroad visiting, or engaged in preaching, in secret prayer to 
God. Mr. Gale had admonished me, several times, that, if I 



BSYIVAL AT WESTEBH. 163 

did not take care, I should go beyond my strength and break 
down. But the Spirit of prayer was upon me, and I would 
not resist him ; but gave him scope, and let outony strength 
freely, in pouring my soul out to God. It was November, 
and the weather was becoming cold. Mr. Gale and I had 
been out visiting inquirers with his horse and buggy. We 
came home and went into the barn, and put out the horse. 
Instead of going into the house, I crept up into the hay-loft 
to pour out my burdened soul to God in prayer. I prayed 
until my burden left me. I was so far exhausted that I fell 
down, and lost myself in sleep. I must have fallen asleep 
almost instantly, I judge, from the fact that I. had no recol- 
lection of auy time elapsing, after the struggle in my soul 
was over. The first I knew, Mr. Gale came climbing up into 
the hay-loft, and said, " Brother Finney, are you dead ?" I 
awoke, and at first could give no account why I was there 
asleep, and could form no idea how long I had been there. 
But this I knew, that my mind was calm and my faith 
unwavering. The work would go on, of that I felt assured. 
I have already said that I was ordained to the ministry 
by a presbytery. This was years before the division of the 
Presbyterian church into what is known as the Old and New 
School Assemblies. The well known doctrine of natural and 
moral ability and inability, was held by the Presbyterian 
church, almost universally, in the region where I com- 
menced my ministry. I must here repeat also that Mr. 
Gale, who, by direction of the presbytery, had attended 
somewhat to my theological studies, held firmly to the doc- 
trine of the sinner's inability to obey God , and the subject 
as he presented it in his preaching, as was the case with most 
of the Presbyterian ministers of that day, left the impres- 
sion upon the people that they must wait God's time. If 
they were elect, in due time the Spirit would convert them ; 
f they were, non-elect, nothing that they could do for them- 
selves, or that anybody else could do for them, would ever 
Bavingly benefit them. 
7* 



154 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

They held the doctrine that moral depravity was consti- 
tutional, and belonged to the very nature ; that the will, 
though free to do evil, was utterly impotent to all good ; 
that the work of the Holy Spirit in changing the heart, was 
a physical operation on the substance or essence of the soul ; 
that the sinner was passive in regeneration, till the Holy 
Spirit had implanted a new principle in his nature, and that 
all efforts on his part were utterly unavailing ; that properly 
speaking there were no means of regeneration, this being a 
physical re-creation of the soul by the direct agency of the 
Holy Ghost ; that the atonement was limited to the 
elect, and that for the non-elect to be saved was an utter 
impossibility. 

In my studies and controversies with Mr. Gale, I had 
maintained the opposite of this. I assumed that moral de- 
pravity is, and must be, a voluntary attitude of the mind ; 
that it does, and must, consist in the committal of the will to 
the gratification of the desires, or as the Bible expresses it, of 
the lusts of the flesh, as opposed to that which the law of 
God requires. In consistency with this I maintained that 
the influence of the Spirit of God upon the soul of man is 
moral, that is persuasive ; that Christ represented him as a 
teacher ; that his work is to convict and convert the sin- 
ner, by divine teaching and persuasion. 

I held also that there are means of regeneration, and 
that the truths of the Bible are, in their nature, calculated 
to lead the sinner to abandon his wickedness and turn to 
God. I held also that there must be an adaptation of mean3 
to the end to be secured ; that is, that the intelligence must 
be enlightened, the unreasonableness of moral depravity 
must be set before the sinner, and its wickedness and ill- 
desert clearly revealed to him ; that when this was done the 
mission of Christ could be strongly presented, and could be 
understood by him ; that taking this course with the sinner, 
had a tendency to convert him to Christ ; and that when 
this was faithfully and prayerfully done, we had a right to 



BETIVAL AT WESTEKN. 155 

expect the Holy Spirit to co-operate with us, giving effect to 
our feeble effort. 

Furthermore, I held that the Holy Spirit operates in the 
preacher, clearly revealing these truths in their proper order 
to him, and enabling him to set them before the people, in 
such proportion, and in such order as is calculated to convert 
them. I understood then, as I do now, the charge and 
promise which Christ gave to the apostles and to the church, 
to be applicable in the present day : " Go and disciple all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world. " v 

This I regarded as a charge committed to me, to all 
ministers, and to the church ; with the express promise that 
when we go forth to this work, with a single eye, and with a 
prayerful heart, Christ will be with us by his Spirit, giving 
efficiency to our efforts to save souls. It appeared to me 
then, as it ever has since, that the great failure of the min- 
istry and of the church, in promoting religion, consisted, in 
great measure, in the want of a suitable adaptation of means 
to that end. I had sat under Mr. Gale's preaching for years, 
and could never see any adaptation in his preaching to con- 
vert anybody. It did not appear to me as if that could have 
been his design. I found the same was true of all the ser- 
mons that I heard, anywhere. I had on one occasion spoken 
to Mr. Gale on this subject, and said to him, that of all the 
causes that were ever plead, the cause of religion, I thought, 
had the fewest able advocates ; and that if advocates at the 
bar should pursue the same course in pleading the cause of 
their clients, that ministers do in pleading the cause of Christ 
with sinners, they would not gain a single case. 

But at that time, Mr. Gale could not see it ; for what 
connection was there between means and ends, upon his view 
of what regeneration consisted in, and the manner in which 
the Holy Spirit changed the heart ? 

As an illustration, soon after I began to preach, in the 



156 MEAIOIUS OF CHARLES G. ELtfNEY. 

midst of a powerful revival, a young man from the theological 
seminary at Princeton, came into the place. The former 
pastor of the church, an elderly gentlemen, lived there, and 
had a great curiosity to hear this young man preach. The 
church had no pastor at the time ; I therefore had the sole 
charge of the pulpit, and was conducting things according 
to my own discretion. He said he had known the young 
man before he went to college, and he desired very much to 
see what proficiency he had made ; and wanted I should let 
him preach. I said I was afraid to set him to preach, lest 
lie should mar the work, by not preaching that which was 
needed at the time. " Oh," said the old gentleman, " he 
will preach the truth ; and there is no connection in religion, 
you know, between means and ends, and therefore there is 
no danger of his marring the work." I replied, " That is 
not my doctrine. I believe there is as much connection 
between means and ends in religion as in nature ; and 
therefore cannot consent to let him preach." 

I have often found it necessary to take substantially the 
same course in revivals of religion ; and sometimes, by doing 
so, I have found that I gave offence ; but I dared not do other- 
wise. In the midst of a revival of religion, and when souls 
needed peculiar instruction, adapted to their present condition 
and their present wants, I dared not put a stranger into the 
pulpit, where I had the charge, to preach any of his great 
sermons, and generally too, a sermon not at all adapted to 
the wants of the people. For this course I have frequently 
been accused of supposing that I could preach better than 
others. And I confess I did suppose that I could meet the 
wants of the people, better than those that knew less about 
them, or than those that would preach their old written ser- 
mons to them ; and I supposed that Christ .had put the 
work into my hands in such a sense, that I was under obli- 
gation to adapt means to ends, and not call upon others 
who knew little of the state of things, to attempt to instruct 
the people. I did in these cases just as I would be done by. 



BBVIVA1, Al W&6TE&X. 157 

I would not allow myself to go in where another man was 
laboring to promote a revival, and suffer myself to be put in 
his place, when I knew little or nothing about the state of 
the people. 

I have said that at Western I was the guest of Mr. Gale, 
and that he had come to the conclusion that he was never 
converted. He told me the progress of his mind ; that he 
had firmly believed, as he had so frequently urged upon me, 
that God would not bless my labors, because I would not 
preach what he regarded as the truths of the Gospel. But 
when he found that the Spirit of God did accompany my 
labors, it led him to the conclusion that he was wrong ; and 
this led him to such an overhauling of his whole state of 
mind, and of his views as a preacher, as resulted in his com- 
ing to the conclusion that he had never been converted, and 
did not understand the Gospel himself. During the revival 
in Western, he attended nearly all the meetings ; and before 
many weeks, he told me he had come into an entirely differ- 
ent state of mind in regard to his own soul, and had changed 
his views of the Gospel,^ and thought I was right. He said 
he thanked God that he had had no influence with me, to 
lead me to adopt his views ; that I should have been ruined 
as a minister if he had prevailed. From this time he be- 
came a very efficient worker, so far as his health would per- 
mit, in the revival in that region of country. 

The doctrine upon which I insisted, that the command 
to obey God implied the power to do so, created in some 
places considerable opposition at first. Denying also, as I 
did, that moral depravity is physical, or the depravity of 
the nature, and maintaining, as I did, that it is altogether 
voluntary, and therefore that the Spirit's influences are 
those of teaching, persuading, convicting, and, of course, a 
moral influence, I was regarded by many as teaching new 
and strange doctrines. Indeed, as late as 1832, when I was 
laboring in Boston for the first time, Dr. Beecher said that 
he never had heard the doctrine preached before, that the 



158 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINKET. 

Spirit's influences are moral, as opposed to physical. There 
fore, to a considerable extent, ministers and Christians re 
garded that doctrine as virtually a denial of the Spirit's 
influence altogether ; and hence, although I ever insisted 
very much, and incessantly, upon the divine agency in con* 
viction and regeneration, and in every Christian exercise; 
yet it was a long time before the cry ceased to be heard that 
I denied the agency of the Holy Ghost, in regeneratiou and 
conversion. It was said that I taught self -conversion, self- 
regeneration ; and not unfrequently was I rebuked for 
addressing the sinner, as if the blame of his impenitence all 
belonged to himself, and for urging him to immediate sub- 
mission. However, I persisted in this course, and it was 
seen by ministers ai^d Christians that God owned it as his 
truth, and blessed it to the salvation of thousands of souls. 

I have spoken of the meetings at Elmer's Hill, and have 
said that people from Rome and Wright's settlement began 
to come in large numbers ; and that the manifest effect of 
the word upon those that came, plainly indicated that the 
work was rapidly extending in that direction. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

REVIVAL AT ROME. 

A T this time Eev. Moses Gillett, pastor of the Congre* 
-£jl. gational Church in Rome, hearing what the Lord was 

uoing in Western, came, in company with a Miss H , 

one of the prominent members of his church, to see the 
work that was going on. They were both greatly impressed 
with the work of God. I could see that the Spirit of God 
was stirring them up to the deepest foundations of their 

minds. After a few days, Mr. Gillett and Miss H came 

up again. Miss H was a very devout and earnest 

Christian girl. On their second coming up, Mr. Gillett 
says to me, " Brother Finney, it seems to me that I have a 
new Bible. I never before understood the promises as I do 
now ; I never got hold of them before ; I cannot rest," said 
he ; "my mind is full of the subject, and the promises are 
new to me." This conversation, protracted as it was for 
some time, gave me to understand that the Lord was pre- 
paring him for a great work in his own congregation. 

Soon after this, and when the revival was in its full 
strength at Western, Mr. Gillett persuaded me to exchange 
a day with him. I consented reluctantly. 

On the Saturday before the day of our exchange, on my 
way to Rome, I greatly regretted that I had consented to 
the exchange. I felt that it would greatly mar the work m 
Western, because Mr. Gillett would preach some of his old 
sermons, which I knew very well could not be adapted to 
the state of things. However the people were praying ; and 
it would not stop the work, although it might retard it. I 
went to Rome and preached three times on the Sabbath. To 



iOU MEMOIRS OS CHARLES G. flIKSfiV. 

me it was perfectly manifest that the word took great effec t 
I could see during the day that many heads were down, and 
that a great number of them were bowed down with deep 
conviction for sin. I preached in the morning on the text : 
<c The carnal mind is enmity against God ; " and followed it 
up with something in the same direction, in the afternoon 
and evening. I waited on Monday morning, till Mr. 
Gillett returned from Western. I told him what my impres- 
sions were in respect to the state of the people. He did noc 
seem to realize that the work was beginning with such 
power as I supposed. But he wanted to call for inquirers, 
if there were any in the congregation, and wished me to be 
present at the meeting. I have said before, that the means 
that I had all along used, thus far, in promoting revivals, 
were much prayer, secret and social, public preaching, 
personal conversation, and visitation from house to house ; 
and when inquirers became multiplied, I appointed meetings 
for them, and invited those that were inquiring to meet for 
instruction, suited to their necessities. These were the 
means and the only means, that I had thus far used, in 
attempting to secure the conversion of souls. 

Mr. Gillett asked me to be present at the proposed meet- 
ing of inquiry. I told him I would ; and that he might cir- 
culate information through the village, that there would be 
a meeting of inquiry, on Monday evening. I would go to 
Western, and return just at evening ; it being understood 
that he was not to let the people know that he expected me 
to be present. The meeting was called at the house of one 
of his deacons. When we arrived, we found the large 
sitting-room crowded to its utmost capacity. Mr. Gillett 
looked around with surprise, and manifest agitation ; for he 
found that the meeting was composed of many of the most 
intelligent and influential members of his congregation ; and 
especially was largely composed of the prominent young men 
in the town. We spent a little while in attempting to con- 
verse with them ; and I soon saw that the feeling was so 



REVIVAL At kOME. 161 

deep, tliat there was danger of an outburst of feeling, that 
would be almost uncontrollable. I therefore said to Mr. 
Gillett, "It will not do to continue the meeting in this 
shape. I will make some remarks, such as they need, and 
then dismiss them." 

Nothing had been said or done to create any excitement 
in the meeting. The feeling was all spontaneous. The 
work was with such power, that even a few words of conver- 
sation would make the stoutest men writhe on their seats, 
as if a sword had been thrust into their hearts. It would 
probably not be possible for one who had never witnessed 
such a scene, to realize what the force of the truth some- 
times is, under the power of the Holy Ghost. It was indeed, 
a sword, and a two-edged sword. The pain that it produced 
when searchingly presented in a few words of conversation, 
would create a distress that seemed unendurable. 

Mr. Gillett became very much agitated. He turned 
pale ; and with a good deal of excitement he said, " What 
shall we do ? What shall we do ? " I put my hand on his 
shoulder, and in a whisper said, " Keep quiet, keep quiet, 
brother Gillett." I then addressed them in as gentle but 
plain a manner as I could ; calling their attention at once 
to their only remedy, and assuring them that it was a pres- 
ent and all-sufficient remedy. I pointed them to Christ, as 
the Saviour of the world ; and kept on in this strain as 
long as they could well endure it, which, indeed, was but a 
few moments. 

Mr. Gillett became so agitated that I stepped up to him, 
and taking him by the arm I said, "Let us pray." We 
knelt down in the middle of the room where we had been 
standing. I led in prayer, in a low, unimpassioned voice ; 
but interceded with the Saviour to interpose his blood, then 
and there, and to lead all these sinners to accept the salva- 
tion which he proffered, and to believe to the saving of their 
souls. The agitation deepened every moment ; and as I 
could hear their sobs, and sighs, I closed my prayer and rose 



16# MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FlKtfE*. 

suddenly from my knees. They all arose, and I said, 
" Now please go home without speaking a word to each 
other. Try to keep silent, and do not hreak out into any 
boisterous manifestation of feeling ; hut go without saying 
a word, to your rooms. " 

At this moment a young man hy the name of W , a 

•;lerk in Mr. H 's store, being one of the first young men 

in the place, so nearly fainted, that he fell upon some young 
men that stood near him ; and they all of them partially 
swooned away, and fell together. This had well-nigh pro- 
duced a loud shrieking ; but I hushed them down, and said 
to the young men, " Please set that door wide open, and go 
out, and let all retire in silence." They did as I requested. 
They did not shriek ; but they went out sobbing and 
sighing, and their sobs and sighs could be heard till they 
got out into the street. 

This Mr. W , to whom I have alluded, kept silence 

till he entered the door where he lived ; but he could 
contain himself no longer. He shut the door, fell upon the 
floor, and burst out into a loud wailing, in view of his 
awful condition. This brought the family around him, and 
scattered conviction among the whole of them. 

I afterwards learned that similar scenes occurred in other 
families. Several, as it was afterwards ascertained, were 
converted at the meeting, and went home so full of joy, that 
they could hardly contain themselves. 

The next morning, as soon as it was fairly day, people 
">gan to call at Mr. Gillctt's, to have us go and visit mem- 
vrs of their families, whom they represented as being under 
Jie greatest conviction. We took a hasty breakfast, and 
tarted out. As soon as we were in the streets, the people 
ran out from many houses, and begged us to go into their 
houses. As we could only visit but one place at a time, when 
ve went into a house, the neighbors would rush in and fill 
<the largest room. We would stay and give them instruction 



REVIVAL AT ROME. 163 

for a short time, and then go to another house, and the 
people would follow us. 

We found a most extraordinary state of things. Con 
victions were so deep and universal, that we would some 
times go into a house, and find some in a kneeling posture, 
and some prostrate on the floor. We visited, and con- 
versed, and prayed in this manner, from house to house, 
till noon. I then said to Mr. G-illett, ' "' This will never do ; 
we must have a meeting of inquiry. We cannot go from 
house to house, and we are not meeting the wants of the 
people at all. " He agreed .with me ; but the question arose, 
where shall we have the meeting ? 

A Mr. F , a religious man, at that time kept a hotel, 

on the corner, at the centre of the town. He had a large, 
dining-room ; and Mr. Gillett said, " I will step in and see 
if I cannot be allowed to appoint the meeting of inquiry in 
his dining-room." Without difficulty he obtained consent, 
and then went immediately to the public schools, and gave 
notice that at one o'clock there would be a meeting of in- 
quiry at Mr. Y 's dining-room. We went home, and 

took our dinner, and started for the meeting. We saw 
people hurrying, and some of them actually running to the 
meeting. They were coming from every direction. By the 
time we were there, the room, though a large one, was 
crammed to its utmost capacity. Men, women, and children 
crowded the apartment. 

This meeting was very much like the one we had had the 
night before. The feeling was overwhelming. Some men 
of the strongest nerves were so cut down by the remarks 
which were made, that they were unable to help themselves, 
and had to be taken home by their friends. This meeting 
lasted till nearly night. It resulted in a great number of 
hopeful conversions, and was the means of greatly extending 
the work on every side. 

I preached that evening, and Mr. Gillett appointed a 
meeting for inquiry, the next morning, in the court-house- 



164 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLOTE1. 

This was a much larger room than the dining hall, though 
it was not so central. However, at the hour, the court 
house was crowded ; and we spent a good part of the day in 
giving instruction, and the work went on with wonderful 
power. I preached again in the evening, and Mr. Gillett 
appointed a meeting of inquiry, the next morning, at the 
church ; as no other room in the village was then large 
enough to hold the inquirers. 

At evening, if I rightly remember the order of things, 
we undertook to hold a prayer and conference meeting in a 
large school-house. But the meeting was hardly begun 
before the feeling deepened so much that, to prevent an 
undesirable outburst of overwhelming feeling, I proposed 
to Mr. Gillett that we should dismiss the meeting, and request 
the people to go in silence, and Christians to spend the eve- 
ning in secret prayer, or in family prayer, as might seem 
most desirable. Sinners we exhorted not to sleep, until they 
gave their hearts to God. After this the work became so 
general that I preached every night, I think, for twenty 
nights in succession, and twice on the Sabbath. Our prayer- 
meetings during this time were held in the church, in the day- 
time. The prayer-meeting was held one part of the day, and 
a meeting for inquiry the other part. Every day, if I remem- 
ber aright, after the work had thus commenced, we held a 
prayer-meeting and a meeting for inquiry, with preaching 
in the evening. There was a solemnity throughout the 
whole place, and an awe that made everybody feel that God 
was there. 

Ministers came in from neighboring towns, and expressed 
great astonishment at what they saw and heard, as well they 
might. Conversions multiplied so rapidly, that we had no 
way of learning who were converted. Therefore every eve- 
ning, at the close of my sermon, I requested all who had been 
converted that day, to come forward and report themselves 
in front of the pulpit, that we might have a little conver- 



REVIVAL AT ROME. 165 

eation with them. We were every night surprised by the 
number and the class of persons that came forward. 

At one of our morning prayer-meetings, the lower part 
of the church was full. I arose and was making some re- 
marks to the people, when an unconverted man, a mer- 
chant, came into the meeting. He came along till he found 
a seat in front of me, and near where I stood speaking. He 
nad sat but a few moments, when he fell from his seat as if 
he had been shot. He writhed and groaned in a terrible 
manner. I stepped to the pew door, and saw that it was 
altogether an agony of mind. 

A sceptical physician sat near him. He stepped out of 
his slip, and came and examined this man who was thus dis- 
tressed. He felt his pulse, and examined the case for a few 
moments. He said nothing, but turned away, and leaned 
his head against a post that supported the gallery, and 
manifested great agitation. 

He said afterward that he saw at once that it was dis- 
tress of mind, and it took his scepticism entirely away. 
He was soon after hopefully converted. "We engaged in 
prayer for the man who fell in the pew ; and before he left 
the house, I believe, his anguish passed away, and he re- 
joiced in Christ. 

Another physician, a very amiable man but a sceptic, 

had a little daughter and a praying wife. Little H , a 

girl perhaps eight or nine years old, was strongly convicted 
of sin, and her mother was greatly interested in her state of 
mind. But her father was, at first, quite indignant. He 
said to his wife, " The subject of religion is too high for me. 
T never could understand it. And do you tell me that that 
little child understands it so as to be intelligently convicted 
of sin ? I do not believe it. I know better. I cannot 
endure it. It is fanaticism; it is madness." Nevertheless 
che mother of the child held fast iu prayer. The doctor 
made these remarks, as I learned, with a good deal of spirit. 
Immediately he took his horse, and went several miles to so® 



166 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

a patient. On his way, as he afterward remarked, that sud- 
ject took possession of his mind in such a manner, that it waa 
all opened to his understanding ; and the whole plan of sal- 
vation by Christ was so clear to him that he saw that a child 
could understand it. He wondered that it had ever seemed 
so mysterious to him. He regretted exceedingly that he had 

said what he had to his wife about little H , and felt in 

haste to get home that he might take it back. He soon came 
home, another man ; told his wife what had passed in his 

own mind ; encouraged dear little H to come to Christ ; 

and both father and daughter have since been earnest Chris- 
tians, and have lived long and done much good. 

But in this revival, as in others that I have known, God 
did some terrible things in righteousness. On one Sabbath 
while I was there, as we came out of the pulpit, and were 
about to leave the church, a man came in haste to Mr. Gillett 
and myself, and requested us to go to a certain place, saying 
that a man had fallen down dead there. I was engaged in 
conversing with somebody, and Mr. Gillett went alone. 
When I was through with the conversation, I went to Mr. 
Gillett's house, and he soon returned and related this fact. 
Three men who had been opposing the work, had met that 
Sabbath-day, and spent the day in drinking and ridiculing 
the work. They went on in this way until one of them sud- 
denly fell dead. "When Mr. Gillett arrived at the house, and 
the circumstances were related to him, he said, " There ! 
there is no doubt but that man has been stricken down by 
God, and has been sent to hell." His companions were 
speechless. They could say nothing ; for it was evident to 
them that their conduct had brought upon him this awful 
fcfcroke of divine indignation. 

As the work proceeded, it gathered in nearly the whole 
population. Nearly every one of the lawyers, merchants, 
and physicians, and almost all the principal men, and indeed, 
nearly all the adult population of the village, were brought 
in, especially those who belonged to Mr. Gillett's congrega- 



JBEYIYAL AT BOME. 167 

iion. He said to me before I left, " So far as my congrega 
tion is concerned, the millennium is come already. My peo- 
ple are all converted. Of all my past labors I have not a 
sermon that is suited at all to my congregation, for they are 
all Christians." Mr. Gillett afterward reported that, during 
the twenty days that I spent at Eome, there were five hun- 
dred conversions in that town. 

During the progress of this work, a good deal of excite- 
ment sprung up in Utica, and some there were disposed to 

ridicule the work at Rome. Mr. H , who lived at Eome, 

was a very prominent citizen, and was regarded as standing 
at the head of society there, in point of wealth and intelli- 
gence. But he was sceptical ; or, perhaps I should say, he 
held Unitarian views. He was a very moral and respectable 
man, and held his peculiar views unobtrusively, saying very 
little to anybody about them. The first Sabbath I preached 

there, Mr. H was present ; and he was so astonished, as 

he afterwards told me, at my preaching, that he made up 
his mind that he would not go again. He went home and 
said to his family: "That man is mad, and I should not be 
surprised if he set the town on fire. " He stayed away from 
the meeting for some two weeks. In the meantime the 
work became so great as to confound his scepticism, and he 
was in a state of great perplexity. 

He was president of a bank in Utica, and used to go 
down to attend the weekly meeting of the directors. On 
one of these occasions, one of the directors began to rally 
him on the state of things in Rome, as if they were all run- 
ning mad there. Mr. H remarked, " Gentlemen, say 

what you will, there is something very remarkable in the 
state of things in Rome. Certainly no human power or 
eloquence has produced what we see there. I cannot under- 
stand it. You say it will soon subside. Xo doubt the 
intensity of feeling that is now in Rome, must soon subside, 
or the people will become insane. But, gentlemen," said 



168 MEMOIliS OF CIIARLE3 G. EIK.NEY. 

he, " there is no accounting for that state of feeling by any 
philosophy, unless there be something divine in it." 

After Mr. H had stayed away from the meeting 

about two weeks, a few of us assembled one afternoon, to 
make him a special subject of prayer. The Lord gaye us 
strong faith in praying for him ; and we felt the conviction 
that the Lord was working in his soul. That evening he 
came to meeting. When he came into the house, Mr. Gillett 
whispered to me as we sat in the pulpit, and said, " Brother 
Finney, Mr. H has come. I hope you will not say any- 
thing that will offend him." " No," said I, " but I shall not 
spare him. " In those days I was obliged to preach altogether 
without premeditation ; for I had not an hour in a week, 
which I could take to arrange my thoughts beforehand. 

I chose my subject and preached. The word took a 
powerful hold ; and, as I hoped and intended, it took a pow- 
erful hold of Mr. H himself. I think it was that very 

night, w r hen I requested, at the close of the meeting, all 
those who had been converted that day and evening to come 

forward and report themselves, Mr. H was one who 

came deliberately, solemnly forward, and reported himself 
as having given his heart to God. He appeared humble and 
penitent, and I have always supposed, was truly converted 
to Christ. 

The state of things in the village, and in the neighbor- 
hood round about, was such that no one could come into the 
village, without feeling awe-stricken with the impression that 
God was there, in a peculiar and wonderful manner. As an 
illustration of this, I will relate an incident. The sheriff of 
the county resided in Utica. There were two court-houses 
in the county, one at Borne, and the other at Utica ; conse- 
quently the sheriff, B by name, had much business at 

Eome. He afterwards told me that he had heard of the 
state of things atKome ; and he, together with others, had a 
good deal of laughing, in the hotel where he boarded, about 
what they had heard. 



BEVTVAL AT BOMB. 169 

But one day it was necessary for him to go to Rome. 
He said that he was glad to haye business there ; for he 
wanted to see for himself what it was that people talked so 
much about, and what the state of things really was in Rome. 
He drove on in his one horse sleigh, as he told me, without 
any particular impression upon his mind at all, until he 
crossed what was called the old canal, a place about a mile, 
I fchink, from the town. He said as soon as he crossed the 
old canal, a strange impression came over him, an awe so 
deep that he could not shake it off. He felt as if God per- 
vaded the whole atmosphere. He said that this increased 
the whole way, till he came to the village. He stopped at 

Mr. F 's hotel, and the hostler came out and took his 

horse. He observed, he said, that the hostler looked just 
as he himself felt, as if he were afraid to speak. He went 
into the house, and found the gentleman there with whom 
he had business. He said they were manifestly all so much 
impressed, they could hardly attend to business. He said 
that several times, in the course of the short time he was 
there, he had to rise from the table abruptly, and go to the 
window and look out, and try to divert his attention, to 
keep from weeping. He observed, he said, that everybody 
else appeared to feel just as he did. Such an awe, such a 
solemnity, such a state of things, he had never had any con- 
ception of before. He hastened through with his busiuess, 
and returned to Utica ; but, as he said, never to speak lightly 
of the work at Rome again. A few weeks later, at Utica, he 
was hopefully converted ; the circumstances of which I shall 
relate in the proper place. 

I have spoken of Wright's settlement, a village north- 
east of Rome, some two or three miles. The revival took 
powerful effect there, and converted the great mass of the 
Inhabitants. 

The means that were used at Rome, were such as I had 
used before, and no others ; preaching, public, social, <md 
private prayer, exhortation^ and personal conversation. It 



170 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

is difficult to conceive so deep and universal a state of relig 
ious feeling, with no instance of disorder, or tumult, 01 
fanaticism, or anything that was objectionable, as was wit- 
nessed at Eome. There are many of the converts of that 
revival, scattered all through the land, living to this day ; and 
they c m testify that in those meetings the greatest order and 
solemnity prevailed, and the utmost pains were taken to 
guard against everything that was to be deplored. 

The Spirit's work was so spontaneous, so powerful and 
so overwhelming, as to render it necessary to exercise the 
greatest caution and wisdom, in conducting all the meetings, 
in order to prevent an undesirable outburst of feeling, that 
soon would have exhausted the sensibility of the people, and 
brought about a reaction. But no reaction followed, as 
every body knows who is acquainted with the facts. Thev 
kept up a sunrise prayer-meeting for several months, and I 
believe for more than a year after wards, at all seasons of the 
year, that was very fully attended, and was as full of inter- 
est as perhaps a prayer-meeting could well be. The moral 
state of the people was so greatly changed, that Mr. Gillett 
often remarked that it did not seem like the same place. 
Whatever of sin was left, was obliged to hide its head. No 
open immorality could be tolerated there for a moment. I 
have given only a very faint outline of what passed at 
Rome. A faithful description of all the moving incidents 
that were crowded into that revival, would make a volume 
of itself. 

I should say a few words in regard to the spirit of prayer 
which prevailed at Eome at this time. I think it was on 
the Saturday that I came down from Western to exchange 
with Mr. Gillett, that I met the church in the afternoon in 
a prayer-meeting, in their house of worship. I endeavored 
to make them understand that God would immediately 
answer prayer, provided they fulfilled the conditions upon 
which he had promised to answer prayer ; and especially if 
they believed, in the sense of expecting him to answer their 



EBVIVAL AT BOMB. 173 

requests. I observed that the church were greatly inter- 
ested in my remarks, and their countenances manifested an 
intense desire to see an answer to their prayers. Near the 
close of the meeting I recollect making this remark. " I 
really believe, if you will unite this afternoon in the prayei 
of faith to God, for the immediate outpouring of his Spirit, 
that you will receive an answer from heaven, sooner than 
you would get a message from Albany, by the quickest post 
that could be sent." 

I said this with great emphasis, and felt it ; and I 
observed that the people were startled with my expression 
of earnestness and faith in respect to an immediate answer 
to prayer. The fact is, I had so often seen this result in 
answer to prayer, that I made the remark without any mis- 
giving. Nothing was said by any of the members of the 
church at the time ; but I learned after the work had begun, 
that three or four members of the church called in at Mr. 
Giilett's study, and felt so impressed with what had been 
said about speedy answers to prayer, that they determined 
to take God at his word, and see whether he would answer 
while they were yet speaking. One of them told me after- 
wards that they had wonderful faith given them by the 
Spirit of God, to pray for an immediate answer ; and he 
added, " The answer did come quicker than we could have 
got an answer from Albany, by the quickest post we could 
have sent." 

Indeed the town was full of prayer. Go where you 
would, you heard the voice of prayer. Pass along the street, 
and if two or three Christians happened to be together, they 
were praying. Wherever they met they prayed. Wherever 
there was a sinner unconverted, especially if he manifested 
any opposition, you would find some two or three brethren 
or sisters agreeing to make him a particular subject of 
prayer. 

There was the wife of an officer in the United States 
army residing at Rome, the daughter of a prominent citizen 



172 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

of that place. This lady manifested a good deal ol opposi- 
tion to the work, and, as was reported, said some strong 
things against it ; and this led to her being made a particu- 
lar subject of prayer. This had come to my knowledge but 
a short time before the event occurred, which I am about to 
relate. I believe, in this case, some of the principal women, 
made this lady a particular subject of prayer, as she was a 
person of prominent influence in the place. She was an 
educated lady, of great force of character, and of strong will; 
and of course she made her opposition felt. But almost as 
soon as this was known, and the spirit of prayer was given 
for her in particular, the Spirit of God took her case in hand. 
One evening, almost immediately after I had heard of her 
case, and perhaps the evening of the very day that the facts 
came to my knowledge, after the meeting was dismissed, and 
the people had retired, Mr. Grillett and myself had remained 
to the very last, conversing with some persons who were 
deeply bowed down with conviction. As they went away, 
and we were about to retire, the sexton came hurriedly to 
us as we were going out, and said, " There is a lady in 
yonder pew that cannot get out ; she is helpless. Will you 
not come and see her?" We returned, and lo! down in 
the pew, was this lady of whom I have spoken, perfectly 
overwhelmed with conviction. The pew had been full, and 
she had attempted to retire with the others that went out ; 
but as she was the last to go out, she found herself unable 
to stand, and sunk down upon the floor, and did so without 
being noticed by those that preceded her. We had some 
conversation with her, and found that the Lord had stricken 
her with unutterable conviction of sin. After praying with 
her, and giving her the solemn charge to give her heart 
immediately to Christ, I left her ; and Mr. Gillett, I believe, 
helped her home. It was but a few rods to her house. We 
afterwards learned, that when she got home she went into a 
chamber by herself and spent the night. It was a cold win- 
ter's night. She locked herself in, and spent the night alone. 



&-EYIYAL AT EOMK 173 

The next day she expressed hope in Christ, and so far as I 
have known, proyed to be soundly converted. 

I think 1 should mention also the conversion of Mrs. 
Gillett, during this revival. She was a sister of the mission- 
ary Mills, who was one of the young men whose zeal led to 
the organization of the American Board. She was a beauti- 
ful woman, considerably younger than her husband, and his 
second wife. She had been, before Mr. Gillett married her, 
under conviction for several weeks, and had become almost 
deranged. She had the impression, if I recollect right, that 
she was not one of the elect, and that there was no salvation 
for her. Soon after the revival began in Eome, she was 
powerfully convicted again by the Spirit of the Lord. 

She was a woman of refinement, and fond of dress ; 
and as is very common, wore about her head and upon 
her person some trifling ornaments ; nothing, however, 
that I should have thought of as being any stumbling-block 
m her way, at all. Being her guest, I conversed repeatedly 
with her as her convictions increased ; but it never occurred 
to me that her fondness for dress could stand in the way 
of her being converted to God. But as the work became 
so powerful, her distress became alarming ; and Mr. Gillett, 
knowing what had formerly occurred in her case, felt quite 
alarmed lest she should get into that state of despondency, in 
which she had been years before. She threw herself upon 
me for instruction. Every time I came into the house, 
almost, she would come to 1 me and beg me to pray for her, 
and tell me that her distress was more than she could bear. 
She was evidently going fast to despair ; bu^ I could see 
that she was depending too much on me ; therefore I tried 
:< avoid her. 

It went on thus, until one day I came into the house, and 
turned into the study. In a few moments, as usual, she was 
before me, begging me to pray for her, and complaining that 
there was no salvation for her. 1 got up abruptly and left 
her, without praying with her, and saying to her that it wa Q 



174 MEMOIES OF CHARLES G. FIBTNET. 

of no use for me to pray for her, that she was depending 
upon my prayers. When I did so, she sunk down as if she 
would faint. I left her alone, notwithstanding, and went 
abruptly from the study to the parlor. In the course of a 
few moments she came rushing across the hall into the par- 
lor, with her face all in a glow, exclaiming, "0 Mr. Fin- 
ney ! I have found the Saviour ! I have found the Saviour 1 
Don't you think that it was the ornaments in my hair that 
stood in the way of my conversion ? I have found when 
I prayed that they would come up before me ; and I would 
be tempted, as I supposed, to give them up. But," said she, 
"I thought they were trifles, and that God did not care 
about such trifles. This was a temptation of Satan. But 
the ornaments that I wore, continually kept coming up 
before my mind, whenever I attempted to give my heart to 
God. When you abruptly left me," she said, " I was driven 
to desperation. I cast myself down, and, lo ! these orna- 
ments came up again ; and I said, I will not have these 
things come up again, I will put them away from me forever." 
Said she, "I renounced them, and hated them as things 
standing in the way of my salvation. As soon as I promised 
to give them up, the Lord revealed himself to my soul ; and 
! " said she, " I wonder I have never understood this before. 
This was really the great difficulty with me before, when 1 
was under conviction, my fondness for dress ; and I did not 
know it." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

REVIVAL AT UTICA, NEW YOBK. 

"TTTHEN I had been at Rome about twenty days, one of 
V V the elders of Mr. Aiken's church in TTtica, a very 
prominent and a very useful man, died ; and I went down 
to attend his funeral. Mr. Aiken conducted the funeral 
exercises ; and I learned from him that the spirit of prayer 
was already manifest in his congregation, and in that city. 
He told me that one of his principal women had been so 
deeply exercised in her soul about the state of the church, 
and of the ungodly in that city, that she had prayed for two 
days and nights, almost incessantly, until her strength was 
quite overcome ; that she had literal travail of soul, to such 
an extent that when her own strength was exhausted, she 
could not endure the burden of her mind, unless somebody 
was engaged in prayer with her, upon whose prayer she could 
lean — some one who could express her desires to God. 

I understood this, and told Mr. Aiken that the work had 
already begun in her heart. He recognized it, of course ; 
and wished me to commence labor with him and his people 
immediately. I soon did so, and, be sure, the work began 
at once. The word took immediate effect, and the place be- 
came filled with the manifested influence of the Holy Spirit 
Our meetings were crowded every night, and the work spread 
and went on powerfully, especially in the two Presbyterian 
congregations ; of one of which Mr. Aiken was pastor, and 
Mr. Brace of the other. I divided my labors between the 
two congregations. 

Soon after I commenced in Utica, I observed to Mr. 
Aiken, that Mr. B , the sheriff of whom T have made 



i?6 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

mention, did not attend the meetings, as I saw. But a few 
evenings afterward, just as I was about to begin to preach, 

Mr. Aiken whispered to me that Mr. B had come in. 

He pointed him out to me, as he made his way up the aisle 
to his seat. I took my text, and proceeded to address the 
congregation. I had spoken but a few moments, when I 

observed Mr. B rise up in the slip, turn deliberately 

around, wrap his great coat about him, and kneel down. I 
observed that it excited the attention of those that sat near, 
who knew him, and produced a considerable sensation in 
that part of the house. The sheriff continued on his knees 
during the whole service. He then retired to his room at 
the hotel in which he boarded. He was a man, perhaps fifty 
years old, and unmarried. 

He afterwards told me that his mind was greatly burdened 
when he went home, and brought up the subject to which 
he had been listening. I had pressed the congregation to 
accept Christ, just as he was presented in the Gospel. The 
question of the present acceptance of Christ, and the whole 
situation in regard to the sinner's relation to him, and his 
relation to the sinner, had been the subject of discourse. 
He said that he had treasured up in his mind the points that 
had been made, and that he presented them solemnly before 
himself, and said, " My soul, will you consent to this ? Will 
you accept of Christ, and give up sin, and give up yourself ? 
And will you do it now ? " He said he had thrown himself, 
in the agony of his mind, upon his bed. He made this 
point with himself, and conjured his soul, to accept "now, 
and here." Right there, he said, his distress left him so 
suddenly that he fell asleep, and did not wake for several 
hours. When he did awake, he found his mind full of peace 
and rest in Christ ; and from this moment he became an 
earnest worker for Christ among his acquaintances. 

The hotel at which he boarded was at that time kept by 

a Mr. S . The Spirit took powerful hold in that house. 

Mr. S himself was soon made a subject of prayer, anr 



RETTVA.L AT UTICA. 17? 

became converted ; and a large number of his family anl of 

his boarders. Indeed that largest hotel in the town became 
a centre of spiritual influence, and many were converted 
there. The stages, as they passed through, stopped at the 
hotel ; and so powerful was the impression in the community, 
that I heard of several cases of persons that just stopped for 
a meal, or to spend a night, being powerfully convicted and 
converted before they left the town. Indeed, both in this 
place and in Koine, it was a common remark that nobody 
could be in the town, or pass through ifc, without being aware 
of the presence of God ; that a divine influence seemed to 
pervade the place, and the whole atmosphere to be instinct 
with a divine life. 

A merchant from Lowville came to Utica, to do some 
business in his line. He stopped at the hotel where Mr. 

B boarded. He found the whole conversation in the 

town was such as greatly to annoy him, for he was an un- 
converted man. He was vexed, and said he could do no 
business there ; it was all religion ; and he resolved to go 
home. He could not go into a store, but religion was in- 
truded upon him, and he could do no business with them. 
That evening he would go home. 

These remarks had been made in the presence of some of 
the young converts who boarded at the hotel, and I think 

especially in the presence of Mr. B . As the stage was 

expected to leave late at night, he was observed to go to the 
bar, just before he retired, to pay his bill ; saying that Mr. 

S would not probably be up when the stage passed 

through, and he wished therefore to settle his bill before he 

retired. Mr. S said that he observed, while he was settling 

his bill, that his mind was very much exercised, and he sug- 
gested to several of the gentleman boarders that they should 
make him a subject of prayer. They took him, I believe, 

to Mr. B- 's room, and conversed with him, and prayed 

with him and before the stage came, he was a converted 
man. And so concerned did he feel immediately about the 
8* 



17ci MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

people of his own place, that when the stage came he took 
passage, and went immediately home. As soon as he arrived 
at home, he told his family his experience, and called them 
together and prayed with them. As he was a very prom- 
inent citizen, and very outspoken, and everywhere proclaim- 
ing what the Lord had done for his soul, it immediately 
produced a very solemn impression in Lowville, and soon 
resulted in a great revival in that place. 

It was in the midst of the revival in TJtica, that we first 
heard of the opposition to those revivals, that was springing 
up in the East. Mr. Nettleton wrote some letters to Mr. 
Aiken, with whom I was laboring ; in which it was mani- 
fest that he was very much mistaken with regard to the 
character of those revivals. Mr. Aiken showed me those 
letters ; and they were handed around among the ministers 
in the neighborhood, as they were intended to be. Among 
them was one in which Mr. Nettleton stated fully what he 
regarded as objectionable in the conduct of these revivals ; 
but as no such things as he complained of were done in 
those revivals, or had been known at all, we took no othei 
notice of the letters than to read them, and let them pass. 
Mr. Aiken, however, replied privately to one or two of 
them, assuring Mr. Nettleton that no such things were 
done. I do not recollect now whether Mr. Nettletoci com- 
plained of the fact, that women would sometimes pray in 
the social meetings. It was true, however, that in a few 
instances women, — and some very prominent women, who 
were strongly pressed in spirit, — would lead in prayer, in the 
social meetings which we held daily from house to house. 
No opposition, that I know of, was manifested to this, eithei 
at Utica or at Rome. I had no agency in introducing the 
practice among the people, and do not know whether it had 
existed there before or not. Indeed it was not a subject oi 
much conversation or thought, so far as I know, in tha 
neighborhood where it occurred. 

I have already said that Mr. Weeks, who maintained the 



REVIVAL AT UTIOA. l79 

most offensive doctrines on the subject of divine efficiency, 
was known to be opposed to those revivals. For the infor- 
mation of those who may not know that any such doctrines 
were ever held, I would say, that Mr. Weeks, and those that 
agreed with him, held that both sin and holiness were pro- 
duced in the mind by a direct act of almighty power ; that 
God made men sinners or holy, at his sovereign discretion, 
but in both cases by a direct act of almighty power, an act 
as irresistible as that of creation itself ; that in fact God was 
the only proper agent in the universe, and that all creatures 
acted only as they were moved and compelled to act, by Ms 
irresistible power ; that every sin in the universe, both of 
men and of devils, was the result of a direct, irresistible act 
on the part of God. This they attempted to prove from 
the Bible. 

Mr. Weeks' idea of conversion, or regeneration, was that 
God, who had made men sinners, brought them also, in 
regenerating them, to admit that he had a right to make 
them sinners, for his glory, and to send them to hell for the 
sins which he had directly created in them, or compelled 
them to commit, by the force of omnipotence. In conversions 
that did not bring sinners to accept this view of the sub- 
ject, he had no confidence. Those that have read Mr. Weeks'* 
nine sermons on the subject, will see that I have not misrepre- 
sented his views. And as this view of Mr. Weeks was em- 
braced, to a considerable extent, by ministers and professors 
of religion in that region, his known opposition, together 
with that of some other ministers, greatly emboldened and 
increased the opposition of others. 

The work, however, went on with great power, converting 
all classes, until Mr. Aiken reported the hopeful conversion 
of five hundred, in the course of a few weeks, most of them, 
I believe, belonging to his own congregation. Revivals 
were comparatively a new thing in that region ; and the 
great mass of the people had not become convinced that 
they were the work of God. They were not awed by them, 



180 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIXKET. 

as they afterwards became. It seemed to be extensively the 
impression that those revivals would soon pass away, and 
would prove to have been but a mere excitement of animal 
feeling. I do not mean that those that were interested in 
the work had any such idea. 

One circumstance occurred, in the midst of that revival, 
that made a powerful impression. The Oneida presbytery 
met there, while the revival was going on in its full strength. 
Among others there was an aged clergyman, a stranger to me, 
who was very much annoyed by the heat and fervor of the 
revival. He found the public mind all absorbed on the sub- 
ject of religion ; that there was prayer and religious conver- 
sation everywhere, even in the stores and other public places. 
He had never seen a revival, and had never heard what he 
heard there. He was a Scotchman, and, I believe, had not 
been very long in this country. 

On Friday afternoon, before presbytery adjourned, he 
arose and made a violent speech against the revival, as it 
was going on. What he said, greatly shocked and grieved 
the Christian people who were present. They felt like fall- 
ing on their faces before God, and crying to him to prevent 
what he had said from doing any mischief. 

The presbytery adjourned just at evening. Some of the 
members went home, and others remained over night 
Christians gave themselves to prayer. There was a great 
crying to God that night, that he would counteract any evil 
influence that might result from that speech. The next 
morning, this man was found dead in his bed. 

In the course of these revivals, persons from a distance, 
in almost every direction, hearing what the Lord was doing, 
or being attracted by curiosity and wonder at what they 
heard, came to see for themselves ; and many of them were 
converted to Christ. Among these visitors, Dr. Garnet Judd, 
who soon after went to the Sandwich Islands as a missionary, 
and has been well-known to lovers of missions for many 
years, was one. He belonged to the congregation of Mr. 



KEVIYAL AT UTICA. 181 

Weeks, to whom I have referred. His father, old Dr. Judd, 
was an earnest Christian man. He came down to Utica and 
sympathized greatly with the revival. 

About the same time a young woman, Miss E T -, 

from some part of New England, came to Utica under the 
following circumstances : she was teaching a high school, in 
the neighborhood of Newburgh, New York. As much was 
said in the newspapers about the revival in Utica, Miss 
T , among others, became filled with wonder and aston- 
ishment, and with a desire to go and see for herself what it 
meant. She dismissed her school for ten days, and took the 
sxage for Utica. As she passed through Genesee street to 

the hotel, she observed on one of the signs, the name of B 

T . She was an entire stranger in Utica, and did not 

know that she had an acquaintance or relative there. But 
after stopping a day or two at her hotel, and inquiring who 

B T was, she dropped him a note, saying that the 

daughter of a Mr. T , naming her father, was at the 

hotel, and would be pleased to see him. Mr. T waited 

upon her and found that she was a distant relative of his, 
and invited her immediately to his house. She accepted his 
invitation, and he being an earnest Christian man, imme- 
diately took her to all the meetings, and tried to interest her 
in religion. She was greatly surprised at all that she saw 
and a good deal annoyed. 

She was an energetic, highly cultivated, and proud 
young lady; and the manner in which people conversed 
with her, and pressed upon her the necessity of immediately 
giving her heart to God, very much disturbed her. The 
preaching which she heard, from night to night, took a deep 
hold upon her. The guilt of sinners was largely insisted 
upon ; and their desert and danger of eternal damnation, 
were made prominent in what she heard. This aroused her 
opposition ; but still the work of conviction went powerfully 
on in her heart. 

In the meantime I had not seen her, to converse with 



182 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

her ; but had heard from Mr. T of her state of mind. 

After writhing under the truth for a few days, she called at 
my lodging. She sat down upon the sofa in the parlor. I 
drew up my chair in front of her, and began to press her 
with the claims of God. She referred to my preaching that 
sinners deserved to be sent to an eternal hell ; and said that 
she could not receive it, that she did not believe that God 
was such a being. I replied, "Nor do you yet understand 
what sin is, in its true nature and ill desert ; if you did, you 
would not complain of God for sending the sinner to an 
eternal hell." I then spread out that subject before her in 
conversation, as plainly as I could. Much as she hated to 
believe it, still the conviction of its truth was becoming 
irresistible. I conversed in this strain for some time, until 
I saw that she was ready to sink under the ripened convic- 
tion ; and then I turned and said a few words about the 
place which Jesus holds, and what is the real situation of 
things, in regard to the salvation of those who thus deserved 
to be damned. 

Her countenance waxed pale, in a moment after she 
threw up her hands and shrieked, and then fell forward 
upon the arm of the sofa, and let her heart break. I think 
she had not wept at all before. Her eyes were dry, her 
countenance haggard and pale, her sensibility all locked up ; 
but now the flood-gates were opened, she let her whole gush- 
ing heart out before God. I had no occasion to say any 
more to her. She soon arose and went to her own lodgings. 
She almost immediately gave up her school, offered herseli 
as a foreign missionary, was married to a Mr. Gulick, and 
went out to the Sandwich Islands, I think, at the same time 
that Dr. Judd went out. Her history, as a missionary, is 
well known. She has been a very efficient missionary, and 
has raised several sons, who also are missionaries. 

While making my home in Utica, I preached frequentl) 
in New Hartford, a village four miles south of Utica. There 
Was a precious and powerful work of grace, a Mr. Ooe being 



BEVIYAL AT UTICA. 183 

at the time pastor of the Presbyterian church. I preached 
also at Whitesb oro', another beautiful village, four miles 
west of Utica ; where also was a powerful revival. The 
pastor, Mr. John Frost, was a most efficient laborer in the 
work. 

A circumstance occurred in this neighborhood, which I 
must not fail to notice. There was a cotton manufactory on 
the Oriskany creek, a little above Whitesboro', a place now 

called New York Mills. It was owned by a Mr. W , an 

unconverted man, but a gentleman of high standing and 

good morals. My brother-in-law, Mr. G A , was at 

that time superintendent of the factory. I was invited to 
go and preach at that place, and went up one evening, 
and preached in the village school-house, which was large, 
and was crowded with hearers. The word, I could see, 
took powerful effect among the people, especially among 
the young people who were at work in the factory. 

The next morning, after breakfast, I went into the fac- 
tory, to look through it. As I went through, I observed 
there was a good deal of agitation among those who were 
busy at their looms, and their mules, and other implements 
of work. On passing through one of the apartments, where 
a great number of young women were attending to their 
weaving, I observed a couple of them eyeing me, and speak- 
ing very earnestly to each other ; and I could see that they 
were a good deal agitated, although they both laughed. I 
went slowly toward them. They saw me coming, and were 
evidently much excited. One of them was trying to mend 
a broken thread, and I observed that her hands trembled so 
that she could not mend it. I approached slowly, looking 
on each side at the machinery, as I passed ; but observed 
that this girl grew more and more agitated, and could not 
proceed with her work. When I came within eight or ten 
feet of her, I looked solemnly at her. She observed it, and 
was quite overcome, and sunk down, and burst into tears. 
The impression caught almost like powder, and in a few 



184 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. i'lNITEY. 

Dioments nearly all in the room were in tears. This feeling 

spread through the factory. Mr. W , the owner of the 

establishment, was present, and seeing the state of things, he 
said to the superintendent, " Stop the mill, and let the peo- 
ple attend to religion ; for it is more important that our 
souls should be saved than that this factory run." The gate 
was immediately shut down, and the factory stopped ; but 
where should we assemble ? The superintendent suggested 
that the mule room was large ; and, the mules being run up, 
we could assemble there. We did so, and a more powerful 
meeting I scarcely ever attended. It went on with great 
power. The building was large, and had many people in it, 
from the garret to the cellar. The revival went through 
the mill with astonishing power, and in the course of a few 
days nearly all in the mill were hopefully converted. 

As much has been said about the hopeful conversion of 
Theodore D. Weld, at Utica, it may be well for me to give 

a correct report of the facts. He had an aunt, Mrs. C , 

living in Utica, who was a very praying, godly woman. He 
was the son of an eminent clergyman in New England^ and 
his aunt thought he was a Christian. He used to lead her 
family in its worship. Before the commencement of the 
revival, he had become a member of Hamilton College, at 
Clinton. The work at Utica had attracted so much atten- 
tion, that many persons from Clinton, and among the rest 
some of the professors of the college, had been down to 
Utica, and had reported what was doing there, and a good 
do* 1 of excitement had resulted. Weld held a very promi- 
nent place among the students of Hamilton College, and 
had a very great influence. Hearing what was going on at 
Utica, he became very much excited, and his opposition was 
greatly aroused. He became quite outrageous in his expres- 
sions of opposition to the work, as I understood. 

This fact became known in Utica ; and his aunt, with 
whom he had boarded, became very anxious about him. To 
me he was an entire stranger. His aunt wrote hira, and 



EEYIYAL AT UTICA. 185 

asked him to come home and spend a Sabbath, heai the 
preaching, and become interested in the work. He at first 
declined^ but finally got some of the students together, and 
told them that he had made up his mind to go down to 
Utica ; that he knew it must be fanaticism or enthusiasm ; 
that he knew it would not move him, they would see that it 
would not. He came full of opposition, and his aunt soon 
learned that he did not intend to hear me preach. Mr 
Aiken had usually occupied the pulpit in the morning, and 
I, in the afternoon and evening. His aunt learned that he 
intended to go to Mr. Aiken's church in the morning, when 
he expected Mr. Aiken to preach ; but that he would not go 
in the afternoon or evening, because he was determined not 
to hear me. 

In view of this, Mr. Aiken suggested that I should preach 
in the morning. I consented, and we went to meeting. Mr. 

Aiken took the introductory exercises, as usual. Mrs. C 

came to meeting with her family, and among them Mr. "Weld. 
She took pains to have him so seated in the slip that he could 
not well get out, without herself, and one or two other mem- 
bers of the family, stepping out before him ; for she feared, 
as she said, that he would go out when he saw that I was 
going to preach. I knew that his influence among the young 
men of Utica was very great, and that his coming there 
would have a powerful influence to make them band together 
in opposition to the work. Mr. Aiken pointed him out to 
me, as he came in and took his seat. 

After the introductory exercises, I arose and named this 
text: " One sinner destroyeth much good." I had never 
preached from it, or heard it preached from ; but it came 
home with great power to my niind, and this fact decided 
the selection of the text. I began to preach, and to show in 
a great many instances, how one sinner might destroy much 
good, and how the influence of one man might destroy a great 
many souls. I suppose that I drew a pretty vivid picture 
of Weld, and of what his influence was, and what mischief 



ISO MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

he might do. Once or twice he made an effort to get out . 
but his aunt perceiving it, would throw herself forward, and 
lean on the slip in front, and engage in silent prayer, and 
he could not get out without arousing and annoying her ; 
and therefore he remained in his seat till meeting was out. 

The next day I called at a store in Genesee street, to 
converse with some people there, as it was my custom to go 
from place to place for conversation ; and whom should I 
find there but Weld ? He fell upon me very unceremoni- 
ously, and I should think, for nearly or quite an hour, 
talked to me in a most abusive manner. I had never heard 
anything like it. I got an opportunity to say but very little 
to him myself, for his tongue ran iucessantly. He was very 
gifted in language. It soon attracted the attention of all 
that were in the store, and the news ran along the streets, 
and the clerks gathered in from the neighboring stores, and 
stood to hear what he had to say. All business ceased in the 
store, and all gave themselves up to listening to his vitupera- 
tion. But finally I appealed to him and said, " Mr. Weld, 
are you the son of a minister of Christ, and is this the way 
for you to behave ? " I said a few words in that direction, 
and I saw that it stung him ; and throwing out something 
very severe, he immediately left the store. 

I went out also, and returned to Mr. Aiken's, where for 
the time I was lodging. I had been there but a few 
moments when somebody called at the door, and as no ser- 
vant was at hand I went to the door myself. And who 
should come in but Mr. Weld ? He looked as if he would 
sink. He began immediately to make the most humble 
confession and apology for the manner in which he had 
treated me ; and expressed himself in the strongest terms of 
self-condemnation. I took him kindly by the hand and 
had a little conversation with him, assured him that I had 
laid up nothing against him, and exhorted him earnestly, to 
give his heart to God. I believe I prayed with him before 
he went. He left, and I heard no more of him that day. 



KEVIVAL AT UTICA. 187 

That evening I preached, I think, at New Hartford, and 
returned late in the evening. The next morning I heard 
that he went to his aunt's, greatly impressed and subckied. 
She asked him to pray in the family. He said that he was 
at nrst shocked at the idea. But his enmity arose so much, 
chat he thought that that was one way in which he had not 
yet expressed his opposition, and therefore he would comply 
with her request. He knelt down, and began and w r ent on 
with what his aunt intended should be a prayer ; but from 
his own account of it, it was the most blasphemous strain of 
vituperation that could well be uttered. He kept on in a 
most wonderful way, until they all became convulsed with 
feeling and astonishment ; and he kept on so long, that the 
light went out before he closed. His aunt attempted to 
converse with him, and to pray with him ; but the opposi- 
tion of his heart was terrible. She became frightened at 
the state of mind which he manifested. After praying 
with him, and entreating him to give his heart to God, she 
retired. 

He went to his room ; and walked his room by turns, and 
by turns he lay upon the floor. He continued the whole 
night in that terrible state of mind, angry, rebellious, and 
yet so convicted that he could scarcely live. Just a& day- 
light, while walking back and forth in his room, he said, a 
pressure came upon him that crushed him down to the floor ; 
and with it came a voice that seemed to command him to 
repent, to repent now. He said it broke him down to the 
floor, and there he lay, until, late in the morning, his aunt 
coming up, found him upon the floor calling himself a thou- 
sand fools ; and to all human appearance, with his heart all 
broken to pieces. 

The next night he rose in meeting, and asked if he might 
make confession. I answered, yes ; and he made publio 
confession before the whole congregation. He said it be- 
came him to remove the stumbling-block which he had cast 
before the whole people ; and he wanted opportunity tc 



188 MEMOIBS OF CHAKLES G. FINKEY. 

make the most public confession he could. He did make a 
very humble, earnest, broken-hearted confession. 

From that time he became a very efficient helper in the 
work. He labored diligently ; and being a powerful speaker, 
and much-gifted in prayer and labor, he was instrumental, 
for several years, in doing a great deal of good, and in the 
hopeful conversion of a great many souls. At length his 
~ealth became enfeebled by his great labor. He was obliged 
to leave college, and he went on a fishing-excursion to the 
coast of Labrador. He returned, the same earnest laborer 
as before he went away, with health renewed. I found him, 
for a considerable time, an efficient helper, where I was 
attempting to labor. 

I have said that no public replies were made to the things 
that found their way into print, in opposition to these revi- 
vals ; that is, to nothing that was written by Dr. Beech er or 
Mr. Nettleton. I have also said, that a pamphlet was pub- 
lished by the ministers that composed the Oneida Associa- 
tion, in opposition to the work. To this, I believe, no pub- 
lic answer was given. I recollect that a Unitarian minister, 
residing at Trenton, in that county, published an abusive 
pamphlet, in which he greatly misrepresented the work, and 
made a personal attack upon myself. To this the Rev. Mr. 
Wetmore, one of the members of the Oneida Presbytery, 
published a reply. 

This revival occurred in the winter and spring of 1826. 
When the converts had been received into the churches 
throughout the county, Rev. John Frost, pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church at Whitesboro', published a pamphlet 
giving some account of the revival, and stated, if I remem- 
ber right, that within the bounds of that presbytery, the 
converts numbered three thousand. I have no copy of 
any of these pamphlets. I have said that the work spread 
from Rome and TJtica, as from a centre, in every direction. 
Ministers came from a considerable distance, and spent more 
or less time in attending the meetings, and in vaiious ways 



REVIVAL AT UTICA. 189 

helping forward the work. I spread my own labors over as 
large a field as I could, and labored more or less throughout 
the bounds of the presbytery. I cannot now remember all the 
places where I spent more or less time. The pastors 
of all those churches sympathized deeply with the work ; 
and like good and true men, laid themselves upon the altar, 
and did all they could to forward the great and glorious 
movement ; and God gave them a rich reward. 

The doctrines preached in these revivals were the same 
that have been already presented. Instead of telling sinners 
to use the means of grace and pray for a new heart, we called 
on them to make themselves a new heart and a new spirit, 
and pressed the duty of instant surrender to God. We told 
them the Spirit was striving with them to induce them now 
to give him their hearts, now to believe, and to enter at once 
upon a life of devotion to Christ, of faith, and love, and 
Christian obedience. We taught them that while they were 
praying for the Holy Spirit, they were constantly resisting 
him ; and that if they would at once yield to their own 
convictions of duty, they would be Christians. We tried to 
show them that everything they did or said before they had 
submitted, believed, given their hearts to God, was all sin ; 
was not that which God required them to do, but was simply 
deferring repentance and resisting the Holy Ghost. 

Such teaching as this was of course opposed by many ; 
nevertheless it was greatly blessed by the Spirit of God. 
Formerly it had been supposed necessary that a sinner should 
remain under conviction a long time ; and it was not un- 
common to hear old professors of religion, say that they were 
under conviction many months, or years, before they found re- 
lief ; and they evidently had the impression that the longer 
they were under conviction, the greater was the evidence that 
they were truly converted. We taught the opposite of this. 
I insisted that if they remained long under conviction, they 
were in danger of becoming self-righteous, in the sense that 
they would think that they had prayed a great deal, and 



190 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. EINNEY. 

done a great deal to persuade God to save them ; and that 
finally they would settle down with a false hope. We told 
them that under this protracted conviction, they were in 
danger of grieving the Spirit of God away, and when their 
distress of mind ceased, a reaction would naturally take 
place ; they would feel less distress, and perhaps obtain a de- 
gree of comfort, from which they were in danger of inferring 
thui tney were converted ; that the bare thought that they 
were possibly converted, might create a degree of joy, which 
they might mistake for Christian joy and peace ; and that 
this state of mind might still farther delude them, by being 
taken as evidence that they were converted. 

We tried thoroughly to dispose of this false teaching. 
We insisted then, as I have ever done since, on immediate 
submission, as the only thing that God could accept at their 
hands ; and that all delay, under any pretext whatever, was 
rebellion against God. It became very common under this 
teaching, for persons to be convicted and converted, in the 
course of a few hours, and sometimes in the course of a few 
minutes. Such sudden conversions were alarming to man\ 
good people ; and of course they predicted that the converts 
would fall away, and prove not to be soundly converted. Bui 
the event proved, that among those sudden conversions, were 
some of the most influential Christians that ever have been 
known in that region of country ; and this has been in 
accordance with my own experience, through all my ministry. 

I have said that Mr. Aiken privately replied to some of 
Mr. Nettleton's and Dr. Beecher's letters. Some of Dr. 
Beecher's letters at the time, found their way into print ; 
but no public notice was taken of them. Mr. Aiken's, 
replies, which he sent through the mail, seemed to make no 
difference with the opposition of either Mr. ISTettleton or Dr. 
Beecher. From a letter which Dr. Beecher wrote, about thir 
time, to Dr. Taylor of New Haven, it appeared that some onv« 
had made the impression upon him, that the brethren 
engaged in promoting those revivals were untruthful. In 



REVIVAL AT UTICA. 191 

that letter, he asserted that the spirit of lying was so pre- 
dominant in those revivals, that the brethren engaged m 
promoting them, could not be at all believed. This letter 
of Dr. Beecher to Dr. Taylor, found its way into print. If 
it should be republished at this day, the people of the region 
where those revivals prevailed, would think it very strange 
that Dr. Beecher should, even in a private letter, ever Lave 
written such things, of the ministers and Christians engaged 
in promoting those great and wonderful revivals. 



CHAPTER XV. 

REVIVAL AT AUBURN" IN" 1826. 

DR. LANSING, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
at Auburn, came to Utica, to witness the revival there, 
and urged me to go out and labor for a time with him. In 
the summer of 1826, I complied with his request, and went 
there and labored with him for a season. Soon after I went 
to Auburn, I found that some of the professors in the' theo- 
logical seminary in that place, were taking an attitude hos- 
tile to the revival. I had before known that ministers east 
of Utica were, a considerable number of them, holding cor- 
respondence with reference to these revivals, and taking an 
attitude of hostility to them. 

However, until I arrived at Auburn, I was not fully 
aware of the amount of opposition I was destined to meet 
from the ministry ; not the ministry in the region where I 
had labored ; but from ministers where I had not labored, 
and who knew personally nothing of me, but were influenced 
by the false reports which' they heard. But soon after I 
arrived at Auburn, I learned from various sources that a 
system of espionage was being carried on, that was destined 
to result, and intended to result, in an extensive union of 
ministers and churches to hedge me in, and prevent the 
spread of the revivals in connection with my labors. 

About this time I was informed that Mr. Nettleton had 
said that I could go no farther East ; that all the New 
England churches especially were closed against me. Mr. 
Nettleton came and made a stand at Albany ; and a letter 
from Dr. Beecher fell into my possession, in which he ex- 
horted Mr. Nettleton to make a manful stand against me 



REVIVAL AT AUBURH. 193 

and the revivals in central New York ; promising that when 
the judicatures, as he called them, of New England met, 
they would all speak out, and sustain him in his op- 
position. 

But for the present I must return to what passed at 
Auburn. My mind became, soon after I went there, very 
much impressed with the extensive working of that system 
of espionage of which I have spoken. Mr. Frost, of Whites- 
^oro', had come to a knowledge of the facts to a considerable 
extent, and communicated them to me. I said nothing 
publicly, or as I recollect privately, to anybody on the sub- 
ject ; but gave myself to prayer. I looked to God with 
great earnestness day after day, to be directed ; asking him 
to show me the path of duty, and give me grace to ride out 
the storm. 

I shall never forget what a scene I passed through one 
day in my room at Dr. Lansing's. The Lord showed me as 
in a vision what was before me. He drew so near to me, 
while I was engaged in prayer, that my flesh literally trem- 
bled on my bones. I shook from head to foot, under a full 
ysense of the presence of God. At first, and for some time, 
it seemed more like being on the top of Sinai, amidst its 
full thunderings, than in the presence of the cross of Christ. 

Never in my life, that I recollect, was I so awed and 
humbled before God as then. Nevertheless, instead of feel- 
ing like fleeing, I seemed drawn nearer and nearer to God 
— seemed to draw nearer and nearer to that Presence that 
filled me with such unutterable awe and trembling. After 
a season of great humiliation before him, there came a great 
lifting up. God assured me that he would be with me and 
uphold me ; that no opposition should prevail against me ; 
that I had nothing to do, in regard to all this matter, but 
to keep about my work, and wait for the salvation of God. 

The sense of God's presence, and all that passed between 
God and my soul at that time, I can never describe. It led 
me to be perfectly trustful, perfectly calm, and to have 
9 



194 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

nothing but the most perfectly kind feelings toward ail the 
brethren, that were misled, and were arraying themselves 
against me. I felt assured that all would come out right ; 
that my true course was to leave everything to God, and tc 
keep about my work ; and as the storm gathered and the 
opposition increased, 1 never for one moment doubted how 
it would result. I was never disturbed by.it, I never spent 
a waking hour in thinking of it ; when to all outward ap- 
pearance, it seemed as if all the churches of the land, except 
where I had labored, would unite to shut me out of their 
pulpits. This was indeed the avowed determination, as I 
understood, of the men that led in the opposition. They 
were so deceived that they thought there was no effectual 
way but to unite, and, as they expressed it, "|3ut him 
down." But God assured me that they could not put me 
down. 

A passage in the twentieth chapter of Jeremiah was 
repeatedly set home upon me with great power. It reads 
thus : "0 Lord, thou hast deceived me and I was de- 
ceived." In the margin it reads, enticed. "Thou art 
stronger than I, and hast prevailed. I am in derision daily, 
every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, 1 
cried violence and spoil ; because the word of the Lord wa? 
made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily. Then I 
said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in 
his name. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire 
shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and 
I could not stay. For I heard the defaming of many, and 
fear was on every side. Eeport, say they, and we will report 
it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, 
peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against 
him, and we shall take our revenge on him. But the Lord 
is with me as a mighty, terrible one ; therefore my persecu- 
tors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. They shall be 
greatly ashamed, for they, shall not prosper; their ever- 
lasting confusion shall never be forgotten. But Lord of 



REVIVAL AT AtJBURK. 19£ 

hosts that tnest the righteous, and seest the reins and the 
heart, let me see thy vengeance on them ; for unto thee have 
I opened my cause/' Jer. 20 : 7-12. 

I do not mean that this passage literally described my 
case, or expressed my feelings ; but there was so much 
similarity in the case, that this passage was often a support to 
my soul. The Lord did not allow me to lay the opposition to 
heart ; and I can truly say, so far as I can recollect, I never 
had an unkind feeling toward Mr. Nettleton or Dr. Beecher, 
or any leading opposer of the work, during the whole oi 
their opposition. 

I recollect having had a peculiar feeling of horror in 
respect to the pamphlet published, and the course taken by 
William E. Weeks, to whom I have made allusion. Those 
who are acquainted with the history of Mr. Weeks, recollect 
that soon after this, he began to write a book which he called 
"The pilgrim's progress in the nineteenth century." This 
was published in numbers, and finally bound up in a volume;, 
with which many of the readers of this narrative may be 
familiar. He was a man of considerable talent, and I must 
hope a good man ; but as I think much deluded in his phil- 
osophy, and exceedingly out of the way in his theology. I 
do not mention him because I wish to say any evil of him, 
or of his book ; but merely to say that he never ceased, so 
far as I can learn, to offer more or less opposition, direct 
and indirect, to revivals that did not favor his peculiar views. 
He took much pains, without naming him, to defend the 
course which Mr. Nettleton took, in putting himself at the 
head of the opposition to those revivals. But God has dis- 
posed of all that influence. I have heard nothing of it now 
for many years. 

Notwithstanding the attitude that some of the professors 
at Auburn were taking, in connection with so many minis- 
ters abroad, the Lord soon revived his work in Auburn. 
Mr. Lansing had a large congregation, and a very intolli 



196 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINKB1. 

gent one. The revival soon took effect among the people, 
and became powerful. 

It was at that time that Dr. S of Auburn, who still 

resides there, was so greatly blessed in his soul, as to become 
quite another man. Dr. S was an elder in the Presby- 
terian churoh when I arrived there. He was a very timid 
and doubting kind of Christian ; and had but little Christian 
efficiency, because he had but little faith. He soon, however, 
became deeply convicted of sin ; and descended into the 
depths of humiliation and distress, almost to despair. He 
continued in this state for weeks, until one night, in a prayer- 
meetiug, he was quite overcome with his feelings, and sunk 
down helpless on the floor. Then God opened his eyes to 
the reality of his salvation in Christ. This occurred just 
after I had left Auburn, and gone to Troy, ISTew York, to 

labor. Dr. S soon followed me to Troy, and the first 

time I saw him there, he exclaimed with an emphasis pecu- 
liarly his own, "Brother Finney, they have buried the 
Saviour, but Christ is risen. " He received such a wonderful 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, that he has been ever since the 
rejoicing and the wonder of God's people. 

Partly in consequence of the known disapproval of my 
labors on the part of many ministers, a good deal of opposi- 
tion sprung up in Auburn ; and a number of the leading 
men, in that large village, took strong ground against the 
work. But the Spirit of the Lord was among the people 
with great power. - 

I recollect that one Sabbath morning, while I was preach- 
ing, I was describing the manner in which some men would 
ppose their families, and if possible, prevent their being 
converted. I gave so vivid a description of a case of this 
kind, that I said, "Probably if I were acquainted with you, 
I could call some of you by name, who treat your families in 
this manner." At this instant a man cried out in the con- 
gregation, "Name me ! " and then threw his head forward 
on the seat before him : and it was plain that he trembled 



REYIVAL A1 AUBURN. 19? 

with great emotion. It turned out that he was treating his 
family in this manner ; and that morning had done the same 
things that I had named. He said, his crying out, " Name 
me ! " was so spontaneous and irresistible that he could not 
help it. But I fear he was never converted to Christ. 

There was a hatter, by the name of H , residing at 

this time in Auburn. His wife was a Christian woman ; but 
he was a Universalist, and an opposer of the revival. He 
carried his opposition so far as to forbid his wife attend- 
ing our meetings ; and, for several successive evenings, she 
remained at home. One night, as the warning bell rang for 

meeting, half an hour before the assembly met, Mrs. H 

was so much exercised in mind about her husband, that she 
retired for prayer, and spent the half hour in pouring out 
her soul to God. She told him how her husband behaved, 
and that he would not let her attend meeting ; and she drew 
very near to God. 

As the bell was tolling for the people to assemble, she 
came out of her closet, as I learned, and found that her 
husband had come in from the shop ; and, as she entered 
the sitting-room, he asked her if she would not go to meet- 
ing ; and said that if she would go, he would accompany 
her. He afterwards informed me that he had made up hia 
mind to attend meeting that night, to see if he could not get 
something to justify his opposition to his wife ; or at least, 
something to laugh about, and sustain him in ridiculing the 
whole work. When he proposed to accompany his wife ; . she 
was very much surprised, but prepared nerself, and they 
came to meeting. 

Of all this, I knew nothing at the time, of course. I 
had been visiting and laboring with inquirers the whole day, 
and had had no time whatever, to arrange my thoughts, or 
even settle upon a text. During the introductory services, 
a text occurred to my mind. It was the words of the man 
with the unclean spirit, who cried out, " Let us alone." I 
took those words and went on to preach, and endeavored to 



198 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

show up the conduct of those sinners that wanted to let b€ 
alone, that did not want to have anything to do with Christ. 

The Lord gave me power to give a very vivid description 
of the course that class of men were pursuing. In the midst 
of my discourse, I observed a person fall from his seat near 
the broad aisle, who cried out in a most terrific manner. 
The congregation were very much shocked ; and the outcry 
of the man was so great, that I stopped preaching and stood 
still. After a few moments, I requested the congregation 
to sit still, while I should go down and speak with the man. 

I found him to be this Mr. H , of whom I have been 

speaking. The Spirit of the Lord had so powerfully con- 
victed him, that he was unable to sit on his seat. When I 
reached him, he had so far recovered his strength as to be 
on his knees, with his head on his wife's lap. He was weep- 
ing aloud like a child, confessing his sins, and accusing him- 
self in a terrible manner. I said a few words to him, to 
which he seemed to pay but little attention. The Spirit of 
God had his attention so thoroughly, that I soon desisted 
from all efforts to make him attend to what I said. When 
I told the congregation who it was, they all knew him and 
his character ; and it produced tears and sobs in every part 
of the house. T stood for some little time, to see if he would 
be quiet enough for me to go on with my sermon ; but his 
loud weeping rendered it impossible. I can never forget the 
appearance of his wife, as she sat and held his face in her 
hands upon her lap. There appeared in her face a holy joy 
and triumph that words cannot express. 

We had several prayers, and then I dismissed the meet- 
ing, and some persons helped Mr. H to his house. He 

immediately wished them to send for certain of his compan- 
ions, with whom he had been in the habit of ridiculing the 
work of the Lord in that place. He could not rest until he 
had sent for a great number of them, and had made con- 
fession to them ; which he did with a very broken heart. 

He was so overcome that for two or three days he could 



BEVTVAL AT AUBUBtf. 19f 

not get about town, and continued to send for such men a* 
he wished to see, that he might confess to them, and warn 
them to flee from the wrath to come. As soon as he was 
able to get about, he took hold of the work with the utmost 
humility and simplicity of character, but with great earnest- 
ness. Soon after, he was made an elder, or deacon, and he 
has eyer since been a very exemplary and useful Christian. 
His conversion was so marked and so powerful, and the 
results were so manifest, that it did very much to silence 
opposition. 

There were several wealthy men in the town who took 
otience at Dr. Lansing and myself, and the laborers in that 
revival ; and after I left, they got together and formed a new 
congregation. Most of these were, at the time, unconverted 
men. Let the reader bear this in mind ; for in its proper 
place, I shall have occasion to notice the results of this oppo- 
sition and the formation of a new con ere oration, and the 
subsequent conversion of nearly every one of those opposers. 

While at Auburn, I preached more or less in the neigh- 
boring churches round about ; and the revival spread in 
various directions, to Cayuga, and to Skeneateles. This was 
in the summer and autumn of 1826. 

Soon after my arrival at Auburn, a circumstance occurred 
of so striking a character, that I must give a brief relation of 
it. My wife and myself were guests of Dr. Lansing, the 
pastor of the church. The church were much conformed 
to the world, and were accused by the unconverted of being 
leaders in dress, and fashion, and worldliness. As usual I 
directed my preaching to secure the reformation of the 
church, and to get them into a revival state. One Sabbath 
1 had preached, as searchingly as I was able, to the church, 
in regard to their attitude before the world. The word took 
deep hold of the people. 

At the close of my address, I called, as usual, upon the 
pastor to pray. He was much impressed with the sermon, 
and instead of immediately engaging in prayer, he made a 



200 MEMOIES OF CHAELES G. FEOTEY. 

short but very earnest address to tlie church, confirming 
what I had said to them. At this moment a man arose in 
the gallery, and said in a very deliberate and distinct man- 
ner, " Mr. Lansing, I do not believe that such remarks from 
you can do any good, while you wear a ruffled shirt and a 
gold ring, and while your wife and the ladies of your family 
sit, as they do, before the congregation, dressed as leaders in 
the fashions of the day." It seemed as if this would kill 
Dr. Lansing outright. He made no reply, but cast himself 
across the side of the pulpit, and wept like a child. The 
congregation was almost as much shocked and affected as 
himself. They almost universally dropped their heads upon 
the seat in front of them, and many of them wept or every 
side. "With the exception of the sobs and sighs, the house 
was profoundly silent. I waited a few moments, and as Dr. 
Lansing did not move, I arose and offered a short prayer 
and dismissed the congregation. 

I went home with the dear, wounded pastor, and when all 
the family were returned from church, he took the ring 
from his finger — it was a slender gold ring that could hardly 
attract notice — and said, his first wife, when upon her dying 
bed, took it from her finger, and placed it upon his, with a 
request that he should wear it for her sake. He had done 
so, without a thought of its being a stumbling-block. Of his 
ruffles he said, he had worn them from his childhood, and 
did not think of them as anything improper. Indeed he 
could not remember when he began to wear them, and of 
course thought nothing about them. "But," said he "if 
these things are an occasion of offense to any, I will not wear 
them." He was a precious Christian man, and an excellent 
pastor. 

Almost immediately after this, the church were disposed 
to make to the world a public confession of their backslid- 
ing, and want of a Christian spirit. Accordingly a confes- 
sion was drawn up, covering the whole ground. It was sub- 
mitted to the church for their approval, and then read before 



REYIVAL AT AUBUKtf. 201 

tho congregation. The church arose and stood, many of 
them weeping while the confession was read. From this 
point the work went forward, with greatly increased power. 

The confession was evidently a heart work and no sham ; 
and God most graciously and manifestly accepted it, and 
the mouths of gainsayers were shut. The fact is that, to a 
great extent, the churches and ministers were in a low state 
of grace, and those powerful revivals took them by surprise. 
I did not much wonder then, nor have I since, that those 
wonderful works of God were not well understood and re- 
ceived by those who were not in a revival state. 

There were a great many interesting conversions in 
Auburn and its vicinity, and also in all the neighboring 
towns, throughout that part of the state, as the work spread 
in every direction. In the Spring of 1831, I was again 
in Auburn and saw another powerful revival there. The 
circumstances were peculiar, and deeply interesting, and 
will be related in their appropriate place in this narrative 
9* 



CHAPTER XVI. 

REVIVAL AT TROY AND AT NEW LEBANON. 

EARLY in the autumn of this year, 1826, I accepted an 
invitation from the Rev. Dr. Beman and his session, 
to labor with them in Troy, for the revival of religion. At 
Troy, I spent the fall and winter, and the revival was power- 
ful in that city. I have already said that Mr. Nettleton had 
been sent by Dr. Beecher, as I understood, to Albany, to 
make a stand against the revivals that were spreading in 
central New York. I had had the greatest confidence in 
Mr. Nettleton, though I had never seen him. I had had 
the greatest desire to see him ; so much so that I had fre- 
quently dreamed of visiting him, and obtaining information 
from him in regard to the best means of promoting a revival. 
I felt like sitting at his feet, almost as I would at the feet of 
an apostle, from what I had heard of his success in promot- 
ing revivals. At that time my confidence in him was so 
great that I think he could have led me, almost or quite, at 
his discretion. 

Soon after my arrival at Troy, I went down to Albany 
to see him. He was the guest of a family with which I was 
acquainted. I spent part of an afternoon with him, and 
conversed with him in regard to his doctrinal views ; espe- 
cially of the views held by the Dutch and Presbyterian 
churches in regard to the nature of moral depravity. I found 
that he entirely agreed with me, so far as I had opportunity 
to converse with him, on all the points of theology upon 
which we conversed. Indeed there had been no complaint, 
by Dr. Beecher, or Mr. Nettleton, of our teaching in those 
revivals. They did not complain at all that we did not 



BBVTVAL AT TEOT. $03 

teach what they regarded as the true Gospel. What they 
complained of was something that they supposed was highly 
objectionable in the measures that we used. 

Our conversation was brief, upon every point upon which 
we touched. I observed that he avoided the subject of pro- 
moting revivals. When I told him that I intended to remain 
in Albany, and hear him preach in the evening, he manifested 
uneasiness, and remarked that I must not be seen with him. 

Hence Judge C , who accompanied me from Troy, and 

who had been in college with Mr. Nettleton, went with me 
to the meeting, and we sat in the gallery together. I saw 
enough to satisfy me that I could expect no advice or in- 
struction from him, and that he was there to take a stand 
against me= I soon found I was not mistaken. 

Since writing the last paragraph, my attention has been 
called to a statement in the biography of Mr. Kettle ton, to 
the effect that he tried in vain to change my views and prac- 
tices in promoting revivals of religion. I cannot think that 
Mr. Nettleton ever authorized such a statement, for certainly 
he never attempted to do it. As I have said, at that time he 
could have moulded me at discretion ; but he said not a 
word to me about my manner of conducting revivals, nor did 
he ever write a word to me upon the subject. He kept me 
at arm's length ; and although, as I have said, we conversed 
on some points of theology then much discussed, it was plain 
that he was unwilling to say any thing regarding revivals, 
and would not allow me to accompany him to meeting. 
This was the only time I saw him, until I met him in the 
convention at New Lebanon. At no time did Mr. Nettleton 
try to correct my views in relation to revivals. 

We soon began to feel, in Troy, the influence of Dr. 
Beecher's letters over some of the leading members of Dr. 
Beman's church. This opposition increased, and was doubt- 
less fomented by an outside influence, until finally it was 
determined to complain of Dr. Beman, and bring his case 
before the presbytery. This was done ; and for several 



204 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLtfNEY. 

weeks the presbytery sat, and examined the charges against 
him. 

In the meantime, I went on in my labors in the revival. 
Christian people continued praying mightily to God. I kept 
up preaching and praying incessantly, and the revival went 
on with increasing power ; Dr. Beman, in the meantime, 
being under the necessity of giving almost his entire attention 
to his case before the presbytery. When the presbytery had 
examined the charges and specifications, I think they were 
nearly or quite unanimous in dismissing the whole subject, 
and justifying the course which he had taken. The charge 
was not for heresy, nor were the specifications for heresy, I 
believe ; but for things conjured up by the enemies of the 
revival, and by those who were misled by an eutside 
influence. 

In the midst of the revival it became necessary that I 
should leave Troy for a week or two, and visit my family at 
Whitesboro\ While I was gone, Rev. Horatio Foote was 
invited by Dr. Beman to preach. I do not know how often 
he preached ; but this I recollect, that he gave great offence 
to the already disaffected members of the church. He bore 
down upon them with the most searching discourses, as I 
learned. A few of them finally made up their minds to 
withdraw from the congregation. They did so, and estab- 
lished another congregation ; but this was after I had left 
Troy, I do not recollect how long. 

The failure of this effort to break Dr. Beman down, con- 
siderably discomfited the outside movement, in opposition to 
the revival. A great many very interesting incidents oc- 
curred during this revival, that I must pass in silence, lest 
they should appear to reflect too severely on the opposers of 
the work. 

In this revival, as in those that had preceded, there was 
a very earnest spirit of prayer. We had a prayer-meeting 
from house to house, daily, at eleven o'clock. At one of 
those meetings I recollect that a Mr. S , cashier of a bank 



BBYIVAL AT TBOY. 5505 

in that city, was so pressed by the spirit of prayer, that when 
the meeting was dismissed he was unable to rise from his 
knees, as we had all just been kneeling in prayer. He 
remain© 1 upon his knees, and writhed and groaned in 

agony. He said, " Pray for Mr. ," president of the 

bank of which he was cashier. This president was a wealthy, 
unconverted man. When it was seen that his soul was in 
travail for that man, the praying people knelt down, and 
wrestled in prayer for his conversion. As soon as the mind 

of Mr. S was so relieved that he could go home, we all 

retired ; and soon after the president of the bank, for whom 
we prayed, expressed hope in Christ. He had not before 
this, I believe, attended any of the meetings ; and it was 
not known that he was concerned about his salvation. But 
prayer prevailed, and God soon took his case in hand. 

The father of Judge C who was at Albany with me, 

was living with his son whose guest I was at the time. The 
old gentleman had been a judge in Vermont. He was 
remarkably correct in his outward life, a venerable man, 
whose house, in Vermont, had been the home of ministers 
who visited the place ; and he was to all appearance quite 
satisfied with his amiable and self-righteous life. His wife 
had told me of her anxiety for his conversion, and his son 
had repeatedly expressed fear that his father's self -righteous- 
ness would never be overcome, and that his natural amiabil- 
ity would ruin his soul. 

One Sabbath morning, the Holy Spirit opened the case 
to my apprehension, and showed me how to reach it. In a 
few moments I had the whole subject in my mind. I went 
down stairs, and told the old lady and her son what I was 
about to do, and exhorted them to pray earnestly for him. 
I followed out the divine showing, and the word took such 
powerful hold of him that he spent a sleepless night. His 
wife informed me that he had spent a night of anguish, that 
his self-righteousness was thoroughly annihilated, and that 
he was almost in despair. His son had told me that he had 



30<5 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. EINNEY. 

long prided himself, as being better than members of the 
church. He soon became clearly converted, and lived a 
Christian life to the end. 

Before I left Troy, a young lady, a Miss S -, from 

New Lebanon, in Columbia county, who was an only 
daughter of one of the deacons or elders of the church in 
New Lebanon, came to Troy, as I understood, to purchase a 
dress for a ball which she wished to attend. She had a 
young lady relative in Troy, who was numbered among the 
young converts, and was a zealous Christian. She invited 
Miss S — to attend with her all the meetings. This aroused 
the enmity of her heart. She was very restive ; but her 
cousin plead with her to stay from day to day, and to attend 
the meetings, until, before she left, she was thoroughly con- 
verted to Christ. 

As soon as her eyes were opened, and her peace was 
made with God, she went immediately home, and began her 
labors for a revival in that place. Keligion in New Lebanon 
was, at that time, in a very low state. The young people 
were nearly all unconverted ; and the old members of the 
church were in a very cold and inefficient state. Miss 

S 's father had become very formal ; and for a long 

time religious matters had been in a great measure neglected 
in the place. They had an aged minister, a good man, I 
trust, but a man that did not seem to know how to perform 
revival work. 

Miss S first began at homeland besought her father 

to give up his " old prayer," as she expressed it, and wake 
upland be engaged in religion. As she was a great favor- 
ite in the family, and especially with her father, her con- 
version and conversation greatly affected him. He was very 
soon aroused, and became quite another man, and felt 
deeply that they must have a revival of religion. The 
daughter went also to the house of her pastor, and began 
with a daughter of his who was in her sins. She was soon 
converted ; and they two united in prayer for a revival of 



REVIVAL AT TROY. 20? 

religion, and went to work, from house to house, in stirring 
up the people. 

In the course of a week or two, there was so much 

interest excited that Miss S came out herself to Troy, to 

beg me to go there to preach. She was requested to do so 
by the pastor and by members of the church. I went out 
and preached. The Spirit of the Lord was poured out, and 
the revival soon went forward with great power. Very 
interesting incidents occurred almost every day. Striking 
conversions were multiplied, and a great and blessed change 
came over the religious aspect of the whole place. 

Here we were out of the region poisoned by the influence 
of the opposition raised by Dr. Beech er and Mr. Nettleton ; 
consequently we heard but little of opposition at this place 
during the revival, especially from professors of religion. 
Everything seemed to go on harmoniously, so far as I know, 
in the church. They were soon led to feel that they greatly 
needed a revival, and seemed to be very thankful that God 
had visited them. Most of the prominent men in the com- 
munity were converted. 

Among these was a Dr. W , who was said to be an infi- 
del. He at first manifested a good deal of hostility to the re- 
vival, and declared that the people were mad. But he was 

made a particular subject of prayer by Miss S , and some 

others who laid hold upon his case, and who had great faith 
that, notwithstanding his fiery opposition, he would soon be 
converted. One Sunday morning he came to meeting,, and I 
could see that those who felt for him were burdened. Their 
heads were down, and they were in a prayerful state during 
nearly the whole sermon. It was plain, however, before night, 
that the doctor's opposition began to give way. He listened 
through the day, and that night he spent in a deeply exer- 
cised state of mind. The next morning he called on me, 
subdued like a little child, and confessed that he had been 
all wrong. He was very frank in opening his heart, and 
declaring the change that had come over him. It was plain 



208 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

that lie was another man ; and from that day lie took hold 
of the work and went forward with all his might. 

There was also a Mr. T , a merchant, probably the 

most prominent and wealthy citizen of the town at that 
time, but a sceptic. I recollect one evening I preached on 
the text, " The carnal mind is enmity against God." He 
was present. He had been a very moral man, in the com- 
mon acceptation of that term ; and it had been very difficult 
to fasten anything upon his mind that would convict him 
of sin. His wife was a Christian woman, and the Lord had 
converted his daughter. The state of things in the town 
and in his family, had so far interested him, that he would 
come to meeting and hear what was said. The next day 
after this sermon on moral depravity, he confessed himself 
convinced. He told me it came home to him with resistless 
power. He saw it was all true, and assured me his mind 
was made up to serve the Lord the rest of his life. 

I recollect also that John T. Avery, a noted evangelist, 
who has labored in many places for many years, was present 
at that meeting. His family lived in New Lebanon He 
was born and brought up there ; and was at this time a lad, 
perhaps fifteen or sixteen years of age. The next morning 
after that sermon was preached, he came to me, one of the 
most interesting youthful converts that I have ever seen. 
He began and told me what had been passing in his mind 
for several days ; and then he added, " I was completely 
rolled up in the sermon, and it carried me right along. I 
could understand it. I gave up ; I gave all to Christ. " 
This he said in a manner not to be forgotten. But why 
should I multiply cases ? I might spend hours in relating 
incidents, and the conversion of particular individuals. 
But I must not enter too much into particulars. 

But I must mention a little incident, connected some- 
what with the opposition that had been manifested at Troy. 
The presbytery of Columbia had a meeting, somewhere 
within its bounds, while T was at New Lebanon ; and being 



REVIVAL AT TEOY. 2U9 

informed that I was laboring in one of their churches, they 
appointed a committee to visit the place, and inquire intc 
the state of things ; for they had been led to believe, from 
Troy and other places, and from the opposition of Mr. 
Kettle ton and the letters of Dr. Beecher, that my method of 
conducting revivals was so very objectionable, that ic was the 
duty of presbytery to inquire into it. They appointed two 
of their number, as I afterward understood, to visit the 
place ; and they attempted to do so. As I afterward learned, 
though I do not recollect to have heard it at the time, the 
new r s reached New Lebanon, of this action of the presbytery, 
and it was feared that it might create some division, and 
make some disturbance, if this committee came. Some of 
the most engaged Christians made this a particular subject 
of prayer ; and for a day or two before the time when they 
were expected, they prayed much that the Lord would over- 
rule this thing, and not suffer it to divide the church, or 
introduce any element of discord. The committee were 
expected to be there on the Sabbath, and attend the meet- 
ings. But the day before, a violent snow-storm set in ; and 
the snow fell so deep that they found it impossible to get 
through, were detained over the Sabbath, and on Monday, 
found their way back to their own congregations. Those 

brethren were the Rev. J B and the Eev. Mr. 

C . Mr. C was pastor of the Presbyterian church 

at Hudson, New York ; and Mr. B was pastor of the 

Presbyterian church in Chatham, a village some fifteen or 
sixteen miles below Albany. 

Soon after this, I received a letter from Mr. B , 

informing me that the presbytery had appointed him one cf 
a committee to visit me, and make some inquiry in regard to 
my mode of conducting revivals, and inviting me to come 
and spend a Sabbath with him, and preach for him. I did 
bo. As I understood afterward, his report to the presbytery 
was, that it was unnecessary and useless for them to take any 
farther action in the case ; that the Lord was in the work 



210 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

and they should take heed lest they be found fighting against 
God. I heard no more of opposition from that source. T 
haye never doubted that the presbytery of Columbia were 
honestly alarmed at what they had heard. I haye never 
called in question the propriety of the course which they 
took ; and I ever admired their manifest honesty, in receiving 
testimony from proper sources. So far as I know, they 
thereafter sympathized with the work that was going on. 

About this time, a proposition was made by somebody, I 
know not who, to hold a convention or consultation on the 
subject of conducting revivals. Correspondence was entered 
into between the Western brethren who had been engaged in 
those revivals, and the Eastern brethren who had been 
opposing them. It was "finally agreed to hold the conven- 
tion on a 6ertain day, I think in July, 1827, in New Lebanon, 
where I had been laboring. I had left New Lebanon, and 
had been spending a short time at the village of Little Falls, 
on the Mohawk, near Utica. Some very interesting incidents 
occurred there during my short stay ; but nothing so marked 
as naturally to find a place in this narrative, as I was obliged 
to leave after a very short stay in that place, and return to 
New Lebanon to attend the convention. 

It would seem that the design of this meeting has since 
been, by many, very much misunderstood. I find there is 
an impression in the public mind, that some complaint had 
been alleged against myself ; and that this meeting was for 
the trial of myself, as complained of, before a council. But 
this was by no means the case. I had nothing to do with 
getting up the convention. Nor was I any more particularly 
concerned in its results, than any of the members that 
attended. The design was to get at the facts of those 
revivals that had been so much opposed, to consult in refer- 
ence to them, compare views, and see if we could not come 
to a better understanding than had existed, between the 
Eastern opposers of the revivals, and the brethren who had 
been instrumental in promoting them. 



REVIVAL AT TEO*. 211 

I arrived in New Lebanon a day or two before the con- 
vention met. On the appointed day, the invited membera 
arrived. They were not men that had been appointed by 
any ecclesiastical bodies ; but they had been invited by the 
brethren most concerned, East and "West, to come together 
for consultation. None of us were men representing any 
churches or ecclesiastical bodies whatever. We came to- 
gether with no authority to act for the church, or any 
branch of it ; but simply, as I have said, to consult, to com- 
pare views, to see if anything was wrong in fact ; and if so, 
to agree to correct what was wrong, on either side. For my- 
self, I supposed that as soon as the brethren came together, 
and exchanged views, and the facts were understood, that 
the brethren from the East who had opposed the revivals, 
especially Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton, would see their 
error, and that they had been misled ; and that the thing 
would be disposed of ; for I was certain that the things of 
which they complained in their letters, had no foundation 
in fact. 

Of the brethren that composed this convention I can 
remember the following : from the East there were Dr. 
Beecher and Mr. Nettleton, Dr. Joel Hawes from Hartford, 
Dr. Dutton from New Haven, Dr. Humphrey, president of 
Amherst College, Kev. Justin Edwards of Andover, and a 
considerable number of other brethren whose names I do 
not recollect. Erom the West, that is from central New 
York where those revivals had been in progress, there were, 
Dr. Beman of Troy, Dr. Lansing of Auburn, Mr. Aiken of 
CTtica, Mr. Frost of Whitesboro, Mr. Gillett of Rome, Mr. 
Coe of New Hartford, Mr. Gale of Western, Mr. Weeks oi 
Paris Hill, and perhaps some others whose names I do not 
now recollect, and myself. 

We soon discovered that some policy was on foot in 
organizing the convention, on the part of Dr. Beecher. How- 
ever we regarded it not. The convention was organized, 
and I believe Dr. Humphrey presided as moderator. There 



2i2 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FltftfEY, 

was not the least unkindness of feeling, that I know of, ex- 
isting among the members of the convention toward each 
other. It is true that the members from the West regarded 
with suspicion Mr, Weeks, as I have already intimated, as 
being the man who was responsible, in a considerable degree 
for the misapprehension of the Eastern brethren. As soon 
as the convention was duly organized, and the businesa 
before us was stated and understood, the inquiry was raised 
by the brethren from the West in regard to the source 
whence Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton had received their 
information. We had been particularly solicitous to find 
out who it was that was misleading those brethren, and giv- 
ing them such a view of the revivals, as to make them feel 
justified in the course they were taking. We wanted tc 
know whence all this mysterious opposition had proceeded. 
We therefore raised the inquiry at once ; and wished to 
know of those brethren from what source they had received 
their information, as touching those revivals. It was discov- 
ered at once that this was an embarrassing question. 

I should have observed before, and now wish to be dis- 
tinctly understood to say, that no opposition had been mani- 
fested by any of the ministers from the East, who attended 
the convention, except Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton. It 
was not difficult to see from the outset that Dr. Beecher felt 
himself committed, and that his reputation was at stake ; 
that as his letters, some of them, had found their way into 
the public prints, he would be held responsible for them, 
should they not prove to have been called for. It was very 
plain that he and Mr. Nettle ton were both very sensitive. It 
was also very apparent, that Dr. Beecher had secured the 
attendance of these most influential of the New England 
ministers, in order to sustain himself before the public, and 
justify himself in the course he had taken. As for Mr. Nettle- 
ton, Dr. Beecher had assured him that he would be sustained 
by New England ; and that all the New England church 
judicatories woui * sneak out in his favor, and sustain him. 



REVIVAL AT TROY. 213 

When the question was raised as to the sources of the 
information, Dr. Beecher replied : "We have not come here 
to be catechised ; and our spiritual dignity forbids us to 
answer any such questions." For myself I thought this was 
strange, that when such letters had been written and pub- 
lished as had appeared in opposition to those revivals ; when 
such things had been affirmed as facts, which were no facts 
at all ; and when such a storm of opposition had been raised 
throughout the length and breadth of the land ; and we kad 
come together to consider the whole question, that we were 
not allowed to know the source from which their informa- 
tion had been obtained. But we found ourselves utterly 
unable to learn anything about it. 

The convention sat several days ; but as the facts came 
out in regard to the revivals, Mr. ISTettleton became so very 
nervous that he was unable to attend several of our sessions. 
He plainly saw that he was losing ground, and that nothing 
could be ascertained that could justify the course that he 
was taking. This must have been very visible also to Dr. 
Beecher. 

I should have said before, that when the question came 
up, how the facts were to be learned about those revivals, Dr. 
Beecher took the ground that the testimony of those breth- 
ren from the West, who had been engaged in promoting 
them, should not be received ;. that as we were, in a sense, 
parties to the question, and had been ourselves, the objects 
of his censure, it was like testifying in our own case ; that 
we were therefore not admissible as witnesses, and the facts 
should not be received from us. But to this, the brethren 
from the East would not listen for a moment. Dr. Humph- 
rey very firmly remarked, that we were the best witnesses 
that could be produced ; that we knew what we had done, 
and what had been done, in those revivals of religion ; that 
we were therefore the most competent and the most credible 
witnesses ; and that our statements were to be received with- 
out hesitation, by the convention. To this, so far as I know, 



214 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLNtfEY. 

there was a universal agreement, with the exception of Dr. 
Beecher and Mr. Nettleton. 

This decision, however, it was very plain at the time, great- 
ly affected both Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton. They saw 
that if the facts came out, from the brethren who had wit- 
nessed the revivals, who had been on the ground, and knew 
all about them, they might entirely overrule all the misap- 
prehensions and all the misstatements that had been made 
and entertained upon the subject. Our meeting was very 
fraternal throughout ; there was no sparring or bitterness 
manifested; but, with the exception of the two brethren 
whom I have named, Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton, the 
brethren from the East appeared candid, and desirous to 
know the truth, and glad to learn the particulars of the 
Western revivals. 

There were several points of discussion during the con- 
vention, especially one on the propriety of women taking 
any part in social meetings. Dr. Beecher brought up that 
objection, and argued it at length, insisting upon it, that 
the practice was unscriptural and inadmissible. To this Dr. 
Beman replied in a very short address, showing conclusively, 
that this practice was familiar to the apostles ; and that in 
the eleventh chapter of Corinthians, the apostle called the 
attention of the church to the fact that Christian women 
had given a shock to Eastern ideas, by their practice of taking 
part, and praying in their religious meetings, without their 
veils. He showed clearly that the apostle did not complain 
of their taking part in the meeting, but of the fact that they 
did so, laying aside their veils ; which had given a shock to 
the prevalent sentiment, and occasion of reproach to heathen 
opposers. The apostle did not reprove the practice of their 
praying, but simply admonished them to wear their veils 
when they did so. To this reply of Dr. Beman, no answer 
was made or attempted. It was manifestly too conclusive 
to admit of any refutation. 

Near the close of the convention, Mr. Nettleton came in, 



BEVIYAL AT TBOY. 215 

manifestly very much agitated ; and said that he would now 
give the convention to understand the reasons he had for the 
course he had taken. He had what he called "a historical 
letter/' in which he professed to give the reasons, and state 
the facts, upon which he had founded his opposition. I 
was glad to hear the announcement that he wished to read 
this letter to the convention. A copy of it had been sent to 
Mr. Aiken, when I was laboring with him in Utica, and Mr. 
Aiken had given it to me. I had it in my possession at the 
convention, and should have called it up in due time, had 
not Mr. Nettleton done so. 

He went on to read the letter. It was a statement, under 
distinct heads, of the things of which he complained ; and 
which he had been informed, were practiced in those re- 
vivals, and especially by myself. It is evident that the 
letter was aimed at me particularly, though, perhaps, I was 
seldom mentioned in it, by name. Yet the things com- 
plained of were so presented, that there was no mistaking 
the design. The convention listened attentively to the whole 
letter, which was as long as a sermon. Mr. Nettleton then 
observed, that the convention had before them the facts upon 
which he had acted, and which he supposed had called -for 
and justified his proceedings. 

When he sat down I arose, and expressed my satisfac- 
tion that that letter had been read ; and remarked that I 
had a copy of it, and should have read it in due time, if Mr. 
Nettleton had not done so. I then affirmed that so far as 
I was personally concerned, not one of those facts mentioned 
there, and complained of, was true. And I added, "All the 
brethren are here, with wnom I have performed all these 
labors, and they know whether I am chargeable with any of 
these things, in any of their congregations. If they know or 
believe that any of these things are true of me, let them say 
bo now and here." 

They all at once affirmed, either by expressly saying so. 
or by their manifest acquiescence, that they knew of no such 



216 HEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

thing. Mr. Weeks was present ; and I expected, therefore, 
that if anything was said in reply to my explicit denial of all 
the facts charged in Mr. Nettleton's letter, with respect to 
myself, that it would come from Mr. Weeks. I supposed 
that if he had written to Dr. Beecher or Mr. Nettleton, 
affirming those facts, that he would feel called upon, then 
and there, to speak out, and justify what he had written. 
But he said not a word. No one there pretended to justify 
a single sentence in Mr. Nettleton's historical letter, that 
related to myself. This of course was astounding to Mr. 
Nettleton and Dr. Beecher. If any of their supposed facts 
had been received from Mr. Weeks, no doubt they expected 
him to speak out, and justify what he had written. But he 
said nothing intimating that he had any knowledge of any 
of the facts that Mr. Nettleton had presented in his letter. 
The reading of this letter, and what immediately followed, 
prepared the way for closing up the convention. 

And now follow some things that I am sorry to be obliged 
to mention. Mr. Justin Edwards had been present during 
all the discussions ; and had attended, I believe, all the ses- 
sions of the convention. He was a very intimate friend of 
Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton, and he must have seen 
clearly how the whole thing stood. At whose suggestion, I 
do not know, near the close of the convention, he brought in 
a string of resolutions, in which, from step to step, he re- 
solved to disapprove of such, and such, and such measures 
in the promotion of revivals. He went over, in his resolu- 
tions, nearly, if not quite, every specification contained in 
Mr. Nettleton's historical letter, disapproving of all the 
things of which Mr. Nettleton had complained. 

When he had read his resolutions, it was said immediately 
by several of the brethren from the West, " We approve of 
these resolutions, but what is their design ? It is manifest 
that their design is to make the public impression that 
inch things have been practised ; and that this convention, 
condemning those practices, condemns the brethren that 



SEYIYAL AT TROT. 217 

have been engaged in those revivals ; and that this conven- 
tion justifies, therefore, the opposition that has been made. 
Dr. Beecher insisted that the design of the resolutions was 
entirely prospective ; that nothing was asserted or implied 
with respect to the past, but that they were merely to serve 
as land-marks, and to let it be known that the convention 
disapproved of such things, if they ever should exist, with no 
implication whatever that any such things had been done. 

It was immediately replied, that from the fact that such 
complaints had gone abroad, and it was publicly known 
that such charges had been made, it was evident that these 
resolutions were designed to sustain the brethren who had 
made the opposition, and to make the impression that such 
things had been done in those revivals, as were condemned 
in the resolutions. It was indeed perfectly plain that such 
was the meaning of those resolutions on the part of Mr. 
Beecher and Mr. Xettleton. 

The brethren from the West said, " Of course we shall 
vote for these resolutions, "We believe in these things as much 
as you do ; and we as much disapprove of the practices con- 
demned in these resolutions as you do yourselves ; therefore 
we cannot help voting for them. But we believe that they 
are intended to justify this opposition, to have a retrospec- 
tive rather than a prospective application." However we 
passed the resolutions, I believe unanimously ; and I recollect 
saying that, for my part, I was willing that these resolutions 
should go forth, and that all the facts should be left to the 
publication and adjudication of the solemn judgment. I 
then proposed that, before we dismissed, we should pass a 
resolution against lukewarmness in religion, and condemning 
it as strongly as any of the practices mentioned in the reso- 
lutions. Dr. Beecher declared that there was no danger of 
lukewarmness at all ; whereupon the convention adjourned 
sine die. 

How the publication of the whole proceedings was 
received by the public, I need not say. In the second 
10 



218 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKtfEY. 

volume of the biography of Dr. Beecher, page 101, I find 
the following note by the editor. He says, "A careful 
perusal of the minutes of this convention has satisfied us, 
that there was no radical difference of views between the 
Western brethren and those from New England, and that 
but for the influence of one individual, the same settlement 
might have been made there, which was afterward effected 
at Philadelphia." This is no doubt true. The fact is that 
had not Mr. Nettleton listened to false reports, and got 
committed against those revivals, no convention would have 
been held upon this subject, or thought of. It was all the 
more wonderful that he should have credited such reports, 
since he had so often been made the subject of manifold 
misrepresentations. But he was nearly worn out, had 
become exceedingly nervous, and was of course fearful, and 
easily excited ; and withal had the infirmity, attributed to 
him by Dr. Beecher in his biography, of never giving up his 
own will. I am sure that I say this with entirely kind feel- 
ings toward Mr. Nettleton. I never entertained or had any 
other. 

After this convention, the reaction of public feeling was 
overwhelming. Late in the fall of the same year I met Mr. 
Nettleton in the city of New York. He told me he was 
there, to give his letters against the Western revivals to the 
public, in pamphlet form. I asked him if he would publish 
his " historical letter " which he read before the convention. 
He said he must publish his letters, to justify what he had 
done. I told him if he published that letter it would react 
against himself, as all who were acquainted with those 
revivals would see that he was acting without a valid reason. 
He replied that he should publish his letters, and would risk 
the reaction. He published several other letters, but that 
one he did not publish, so far as I could learn. If it had 
been true, the publication of it would have made the impres- 
iion that his opposition had been called for. But as it was 
Dot true, it was well for him that he did not publish it 



BEVIYAL AT TROY. 219 

Here I must take a slight notice of some things I find in 
Dr. Beecher's biography, about which I think there must 
have been some misunderstanding. The biography repre 
sents him as having justified his opposition to those revivals 
— that is to the manner in which they were conducted— 
until the day of his death ; and as having maintained that the 
evils complained of were real and were corrected by the op- 
position. If this was his opinion after that convention, he 
must still have believed that the brethren who testified that 
no such things had been done, were a set of liars ; and he 
must have wholly rejected our united testimony. But as 
he and Mr. Nettleton were exceedingly anxious to justify 
their opposition, if they still believed those statements in the 
"historical letter " to be true, why did they not publish it, 
and appeal to those who were on the ground and witnessed 
the revivals ? Had the letter been true, its publication 
would have been their justification. If they still believed it 
true, why was it not published with Mr. Nettleton's other 
letters ? That the developments made at that convention, 
had shaken the confidence of Dr. Beecher in the wisdom and 
justice of Mr. Nettleton's opposition, I had inferred from tho 
fact that during my labors in Boston, a year and a half after 
the convention, and after Mr. Nettleton's letters were pub- 
lished, Dr. Beecher, speaking of that convention, remarked, 
that after that, he ' ' would not have had Mr. Nettleton come 
to Boston for a thousand dollars. " Is it possible that, until 
his death, Dr. Beecher continued to believe that the pastors 
of those churches where those revivals occurred, were liars, 
and not to be believed in regard to facts which must have 
been within their personal knowledge ? 

I find in the biographies of Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettle- 
ton, much complaint of the bad spirit that prevailed in those 
revivals. Their mistake lies in their attributing a spirit of 
denunciation to the wrong side. I never heard the name of 
Dr. Beecher or Mr. Nettleton mentioned, during those reviv 
als, in public, that I recollect, and certainly not censoriously. 



220 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES Q. FLNtfEY. 

They were never, even in private conversation, spoken of, to 
my knowledge, with the least bitterness. The friends and 
promoters of those revivals were in a sweet, Christian spirit, 
and as far as possible from being denunciatory. If they 
had been in a denunciatory spirit, those blessed revivals could 
never have been promoted by them, aud the revivals coifid 
never have turned out as gloriously as they did. No, the 
denunciation was on the side of the opposition. A quotation 
from Dr. Beecher's biography will illustrate the animus of the 
opposition. In the second volume, page 101, Dr. Beecher is 
represented as saying to me, at the convention at New Leba- 
non, "Finney, I know your plan, and you know I do ; you 
mean to come to Connecticut, and carry a streak of fire to 
Boston. But if you attempt it, as the Lord liveth, I'll meet 
you at the state line, and call out all the artillery-men, and 
fight every inch of the way to Boston, and then I'll fight you 
there." I do not remember this ; but, as Dr. Beecher does, 
let it illustrate the spirit of his opposition. The fact is, he 
was grossly deceived at every step. I had no design nor 
desire to go to Connecticut, nor to Boston. The above, and 
many other things which I find in his biography, show how 
completely he was deceived, and how utterly ignorant he was 
of the character, and motives, and doings, of those who had 
labored in those glorious revivals. I write these things with 
no pleasure. I find much in this biography that surprises 
me, and leads me to the conclusion that, by some mistake, 
Dr. Beecher has been misunderstood and misrepresented. 
But I pass by other matters. 

After this convention I heard no more of the opposition 
f Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nottleton. Opposition in that form 
had spent itself. The results of the revivals were such as to 
shut the mouths of gainsayers, and convince everybody that 
they were indeed pure and glorious revivals of religion, and 
as far from anything objectionable as any revivals that ever 
were witnessed in this world. Let any one read the Acts of 
fche Apostles, and the record of the revivals of their day ; and 



BBVIVAL AT TEOT. 221 

then read what they say, in their epistles, of the reaction, 
backsliding, and apostacies that followed. Then let them 
find out the truth respecting the glorious revivals of which I 
have been writing, their commencement, progress, and 
results, which have been more and more manifest for nearly 
forty years, and they cannot fail to see that these revivals 
were as truly from God as those. 

Revivals should increase in purity and power, as intelli- 
gence increases. The converts in apostolic times were either 
Jews, with all their prejudice and ignorance, or degraded 
heathen. The art of printing had not been discovered. 
Copies of the Old Testament, and of the written word of 
God, were not to be had, except by the rich who were able 
to purchase manuscript copies. Christianity had no litera- 
ture that was accessible to the masses. The means of instruc- 
tion were not at hand. With so much darkness and igno- 
rance, with so many false notions of religion, with so much 
to mislead and debase, and so few facilities for sustaining a 
religious reformation, it was not to be expected that revivals 
of religion should be pure and free from errors. 

"We have, and preach, the same Gospel that the apostles 
preached. TVe have every facility for guarding against error 
in doctrine and practice, and for securing a sound Gospel 
religion. The people among whom these great revivals pre- 
vailed, were an intelligent, cultivated people. They had 
not only the means of secular, but also of religious education, 
abounding in their midst. Fearly every church had an 
educated, able, and faithful pastor. These pastors were well 
able to judge of the soundness, and discretion of an evange- 
list, whose labors they wished to enjoy. They were well able 
k> judge of the propriety of the measures employed. God 
set his seal to the doctrines that were preached, and to the 
means that were used to carry forward that great work, 
in a most striking and remarkable manner. The results 
are now found in all parts of the land. The converts of 
those revivals are still living, and laboring for Christ and foi 



322 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES O. FINNEY 

souls, iii almost or quite every state in this Union. It is but 
just to say that they are among the most intelligent and use- 
ful Christians in this, or any other country. 

As I have since labored extensively in this country, and 
in Great Britain, and no exceptions have been taken to my 
measures, it has been assumed and asserted that since the 
opposition made by Mr. Nettleton and Dr. Beecher, I have 
been reformed, and have given up the measures they com- 
plained of. This is an entire mistake. I have always and 
everywhere, used all the measures I used in those revivals 
and have often added other measures, whenever I have 
deemed it expedient. I have never seen the necessity of ref- 
ormation in this respect. Were I to live my life over again, 
I think that, with the experience of more than forty years 
in revival labors, I should, under the same circumstances, 
use substantially the same measures that I did then. 

And let me not be understood to take credit to myself. 
No indeed. It was no wisdom of my own that directed me. 
I was made to feel my ignorance and dependence, and led 
to look to God continually for his guidance. I had no 
doubt then, nor have I ever had, that God led me by his 
Spirit, to take the course I did. So clearly did he lead me, 
from day to day, that I never did or could doubt that I 
was divinely directed. 

That the brethren who opposed those revivals were good 
men, I do not doubt. That they were misled, and grossly and 
most injuriously deceived, I have just as little ioubt. If they 
died under the belief that they had just reasons for what they 
did, and wrote, and said, and that they corrected the evils of 
which they eomp]ained, they died grossly deceived in this 
respect. It is not for the safety of the church, the honor of 
rev'vals, or the glory of Christ, that posterity should believe 
that those evils existed, and were corrected, by such a spirit, 
and in such a manner, as has been represented. I should 
have remained silent had not so marked an effort been made 
to perpetuate and confirm the delusion, that the opposition 



REVIVAL Al TROT. 323 

to those revivals was justifiable and successful. The faci 
is, it was neither. 

I have no doubt that Dr. Beecher was led, by somebody, 
to believe that his opposition was called for. From his 
biography, it appears that at Philadelphia, the next spring 
after the convention, it was agreed by himself, Dr. Beman 
and others, to drop the subject, and publish no more in re- 
gard to those revivals. The truth is, that all the controversy 
and all the publishing had been on the side of the opposition. 
Previously to the meeting at Philadelphia, Mr. Nettleton 
had published his letters, and I saw nothing farther in print 
upon the subject. 

I was not a party to the agreement entered into at Phil- 
adelphia ; nevertheless, had not Dr. Beecher's biography 
reopened this subject, with the manifest design to justify the 
course that he took, and rivet the impression upon the pub- 
lic mind, that in making that opposition to those revivals he 
performed a great and good work, I should not feel called 
upon to say, what I can not now be justified in withholding. 
I write from personal knowledge, and to me it matters not 
who may have given to Dr. Beecher the supposed facts upon 
which he acted. Those asserted facts were no facts, as I 
stated before the convention ;• to which statement every 
brother with whom I had labored assented. This was proof, 
if anything can be proven by human testimony. This testi- 
mony it would seem, Dr. Beecher did not believe, if his 
biographer has not misrepresented him. And what will the 
churches in Oneida county say to this? Will they, can 
they believe that such men as Bev. Dr. Aiken, Rev. John 
Frost, Rev. Moses Gillett, Rev. Mr. Ooe, and the other men 
from that county, who attended that convention, deliberate- 
ly falsified upon a subject which was within their own per- 
sonal knowledge ? It matters not who Dr. Beecher's 
informants were ; certainly none of the pastors where those 
revivals prevailed, ever gave him any information that justi- 
fied his course ; and no other men understood the matter as 



224 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES (1. FTXXKT, 

well as they did. I submit that, as the convention decided, 
they were the best possible witnesses of what was said and 
done in their own congregations ; and their testimony waa 
unanimous that no such things were done as were charged. 

I had read the strong, and even terrible charges against 
the brethren who labored in those revivals, contained in Dr. 
Beecher's letter to Dr. Taylor, in which he states that his 
correspondence will justify what he was doing and writing 
agaiust those brethren. When I learned that this matter 
was to be spread before the public in Dr. Beecher's biogra- 
phy, I hoped that, at last, we should get at the authors of 
those reports, through the publication of his correspondence. 
But I see nothing in his correspondence to justify his course. 
Are these charges to be virtually repeated and stereotyped, 
and the correspondence, by which they are said to be justi- 
fied, concealed ? If, as it seems, Dr. Beecher, until the day 
of his death, continued to reject our united testimony, may 
we not know by whose counter testimony ours is impeached ? 

On page 103, of the second volume of Dr. Beecher's 
autobiography, we have the following : " In the spring of 
1828," said Dr. Beecher in conversation on the subject, "I 
found out that Mr. Finney's friends were laying their plans 
to make an impression on the general assembly, that held 
its session at Philadelphia, and to get one of their men infco 
Mr. Skinner's place. Skinner's church had just asked me to 
preach for them ; and I wrote back that I would supply, if 
they wished, while the assembly was in session. That 
blocked somebody's wheels. I stayed till the close, when 
Beman preached half a day. That defeated their plans. 
They failed." What this means I can not say. Id reading 
he above, and what follows to the end of the chapter, to- 
gether with what I find elsewhere on this subject, in thia 
biography, I stand amazed in view of the suspicions and 
delusions under which Dr. Beecher's mind was laboring. If 
any of my friends were crying to get into Dr. Skinner's pulpit 
which he had vacated, I have no recollection of ever having 



REVIVAL AT TROY. 225 

heard of it. I was, at that time, a minister in the presbyte- 
rian church, and was preaching in Philadelphia when the 
assembly was in session, and while Dr. Beecher was there. 
I was as ignorant as a child of all this management revealed 
in the biography. I shared none of the terrors and distrac- 
tions, that seem to have so much distressed Dr. Beecher and 
Mr. Nettleton. If any of my friends were sharing in the 
state of mind in which these brethren were, I knew it not. 

The truthful record of my labors up to the time of the 
convention, and from that time onward, will show how lit- 
tle I knew or cared what Dr. Beecher and Mr. Nettleton 
were saying or doing about me. I bless the Lord that I was 
kept from being diverted from my work by their opposition, 
and that T never gave myself any uneasiness about it. 
"When at Auburn, as I have related, God had given me the 
assurance that he would overrule all opposition, without my 
turning aside to answer my opposers. This I never forgot 
Under this divine assurance I went forward with a single 
eye, and a trustful spirit ; and now when I read what agita- 
tions, suspicions, and misapprehensions possessed the minds 
of these brethren, I stand amazed at their delusion and 
consequent anxiety, respecting myself and my labors. At 
the very time that Dr. Beecher was in Philadelphia, manag- 
ing with members of the general assembly, as related in his 
biography, I was laboring in that city, and had been for sev- 
eral months, in different churches, in the midst of a power- 
ful revival of religion, perfectly ignorant of Dr. Beecher's 
errand there. I can not be too thankful that God kept me 
from being agitated, and changed in my spirit, or views of 
tabor, by all the opposition of those days. 
10* 



CHAPTER XVII. 

REVIVAL m STEPHESTTOWH. 

AFTEE this convention, I remained a short time in New 
Lebanon. I do not think the convention injured tho 
religious state of the people in that place. It -would have 
done so, had any facts come out to justify the opposition 
which they knew had been made to the revivals that had 
been the subject of discussion. But, as it resulted, the 
church in New Lebanon were, I believe, edified and strength- 
ened by what they knew of the convention. Indeed, every- 
thing had been conducted in a spirit tending to edify rather 
than stumble the people. 

Soon after the adjournment of the convention, on the 
Sabbath, as I came out of the pulpit, a young lady by the 

name of S , from Stephentown, was introduced to me. 

She asked me if I could not go up to their town and preach. 
I replied, that my hands were full, and that I did not see 
that I could. I saw her utterance was choked with deep 
feeling ; but as I had not time to converse with her then, 
I went to my lodging. 

Afterward I made inquiry about Stephentown, a place 
north of, and adjoining New Lebanon. Many years before, 
a wealthy individual had died, and given to the Presbyterian 
church in that place, a fund, the interest of which was suf- 
ficient to support a pastor. Soon after this, a Mr. B , 

who had been a chaplain in the Revolutionary army, was 
settled there as pastor of the church. He remained until 
the church ran down, and he finally became an open infidel 
This had produced a most disastrous influence in that town. 



REVIVAL IN STEPHENTOWN. 227 

He remained among them, openly hostile to the Christian 
religion. 

After he had ceased to be pastor of the church, they had 
had one or two ministers settled. Nevertheless, the church 
declined, and the state of religion grew worse and worse ; 
sintil, finally, they had left their meeting-house, as so few 
Attended meeting, and held their services on the Sabbath, 
in a small school-house, which stood near the church. 

The last minister they had had, affirmed that he stayed 
until not more than half-a-dozen people in the town would 
attend on the Sabbath ; and although there was a fund for 
his support, and his salary was regularly paid, yet he could 
not think it his duty to spend his time in laboring in such a 
field. He had, therefore, been dismissed. No other denom- 
ination had taken possession of the field, so as to excite any 
public interest, and the whole town was a complete moral 
waste. Three elders of the Presbyterian church remained, 
and about twenty members. The only unmarried person in 

the church, was this Miss S , of whom I have spoken. 

Nearly the whole town was in a state of impenitence. It 
was a large, rich, farming town, with no considerable village 
in it. 

On the next Sabbath, Miss S met me again, as I came 

out of the pulpit, and begged me to go up there and preach ; 
and asked me if I knew anything of the state of things there. 
I informed her that I did ; but I told her I did not know 
how I could go. She appeared greatly affected, too much so 
to converse, for she could not control her feelings. These 
facts, with what I had heard, began to take hold of me ; and 
my mind began to be profoundly stirred in respect to the 
state of things in Stephentown. I finally told her that if 
the elders of the church desired me to come, she might have 
a notice given out that I would come up, the Lord willing, 
and preach in their church, the next Sabbath at five o'clock 
in the afternoon. This would allow me to preach twice in 
New Lebanon, after which I could ride up to Stephentown 



228 MEMOIRS OF CHABLES G. FLNTtfEY. 

and preach at five o'clock. This seemed to light up 
her countenance and lift the load from her heart. She went 
home and had the notice giyen. 

Accordingly the next Sabbath, after preaching the second 
time, one of the young converts at New Lebanon offered to 
fake me up to Stephentown in his carriage. When he came 
x. his buggy to take me, I asked him, " Have you a steady 
horse ? " " yes ! " he replied, " perfectly so " ; and smiling, 
asked, "What made you ask the question ?" " Because, " 
I replied, " if the Lord wants me to go to Stephentown, the 
devil will prevent it if he can ; and if you have not a steady 
horse, he will try to make him kill me." He smiled, and 
we rode on ; and, strange to tell, before we got there, that 
horse ran away twice, and came near killing us. His owner 
expressed the greatest astonishment, and said he had never 
known such a thing before. 

However, in due time we arrived in safety at Mr. S 's, 

the father of Miss S whom I have mentioned. He lived 

about half a mile from the church, in the direction of New 
Lebanon. As we went in, we met Maria — for that was her 
name — who tearfully, yet joyfully received us, and showed 
me to a room where I could be alone, as it was not quite 
time for meeting. Soon after I heard her praying in a 
room over my head. When it was time for meeting, we all 
went, and found a very large gathering. The congregation 
was solemn and attentive, but nothing very particular oc- 
curred that evening. I spent the night at Mr. S 's, and 

this Maria seemed to be praying over my room nearly all 
night. I could hear her low, trembling voice, interrupted 
often by sobs and manifest weeping. I had made no ap- 
pointment to come again ; but before I left in the morning, 
she plead so hard, that I consented to have an appointment 
made for me for five o'clock the next Sabbath. 

When I came up on the next Sabbath, nearly the same 
things occurred as before ; but the congregation was more 
c^wded ; and as the house was old, for fear the galleries 



REVIVAL AT STEPHENTOWN. 229 

would break down, they had been strongly propped during 
the week. I could see a manifest increase of solemnity an<? 
interest, the second time I preached there. I then left an 
appointment to preach again. At the third service the 
Spirit of God was poured out on the congregation. 

There was a Judge P , that lived in a small village in 

one part of the town, who had a large family of unconverted 
children. At the close of the service as I came out of the 

pulpit, Miss S stepped up to me, and pointed me to a 

pew — the house had then the old square pews — in which sat 
a young woman greatly overcome with her feelings. I went 
in to speak to her, and found her to be one of the daughters 

of this Judge P . Her convictions were very deep. I 

sat down by her and gave her instructions ; and I think, be- 
fore she left the house she was converted. She was a very 
intelligent, earnest young woman, and became a very useful 
Christian. She was afterwards the wife of the evangelist 
Underwood, who has been so well known in many of the 
churches, in New Jersey especially, and in New England. 

She and Miss S seemed immediately to unite their 

prayers. But I could not see, as jet, much movement 
among the older members of the church. They stood in 
4uch relations to each other, that a good deal of repentance 
and confession had to pass among them, as a condition of 
their getting into the work. 

The state of things in Stephentown, now demanded that 
I should leave New Lebanon, and take up my quarters there. 
I did so. The spirit of prayer in the meantime had come 
powerfully upon me, as had been the case for some time with 

Miss S . The praying power so manifestly spreading 

and increasing, the work soon took on a very powerful type ; 
so much so that the word of the Lord would cut the strong- 
est men down, and render them entirely helpless. I could 
name many cases of this kind. 

One of the first that I recollect was on Sabbath, when 
I was preaching on the text, " God is love." There was a 



230 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FItfNEY. 

man by the name of J , a man of strong nerves, and of 

considerable prominence as a farmer, in the town. He sat 
almost immediately before me, near the pulpit. The first 
that I observed was that he fell, and writhed in agony for a 
few moments ; but afterwards became still, and nearly mo- 
tionless, but entirely helpless. He remained in this state 
until the meeting was out, when he was taken home. He 
was very soon converted, and became an effective worker, in 
bringing his friends to Christ. 

In the course of this revival, Zebulon E. Shipherd, a 
celebrated lawyer from Washington county, New York, be- 
ing in attendance upon the court at Albany, and hearing of 
the revival at Stephentown, so disposed of his business as 
to come out and labor with me in the revival. He was an 
earnest Christian man, attended all the meetings, and en- 
joyed them greatly. He was there when the November 
elections occurred through the State. I looked forward to 
the election day with considerable solicitude, fearing that 
the excitement of that day would greatly retard the work. 
I exhorted Christians to watch and pray greatly, that the 
work might not be arrested by any excitement that should 
occur on that day. 

On the evening of election day I preached. When I 
came out of the pulpit, after preaching, Mr. Shipherd — who, 
by the way was the father of Rev. J. J. Shipherd who after- 
ward established Oberlin — beckoned to me from a pew where 
he sat, to come to him. It was a pew in the corner of the 
house, at the left hand of the pulpit. I went to him, and 
found one of the gentlemen who had sat at the table to re- 
ceive votes during the day, so overcome with conviction of 
Bin as to be unable to leave his seat. I went in and had 
some conversation with him, and prayed with him, and he 
was manifestly converted. A considerable portion of the 
congregation had, in the meantime, sat down. As I came out 
of the pew, and was about to retire, my attention was called to 
another pew, at the right hand side of the pulpit, where was 



EEVIVAL IK STEPHEKTOWK. 231 

another of those men that had been prominent at- the elec- 
tion, and had been receiying votes, precisely in the same 
condition of mind. He was too much overpowered by the 
state of his feelings to leave the house. I went and con- 
versed with him also ; and, if I recollect, he was converted 
oef ore he left the house. I mention these cases as specimens 
of the type of the work in that place. 

I have mentioned the family of Mr. P as being large. 

I recollect there were sixteen members of that family, child- 
ren and grandchildren, hopefully converted ; all of whom I 
think, united with the church before I left. There was an- 
other family in the town by the name of M ; which was 

also a large and very influential family, one of the most so 
of any in town. Most of the people lived scattered along on 
a street which, if I recollect right, was about five miles in 
length. On inquiry I found there was not a religious family 
on that whole street, and not a single house in which family 
prayer was maintained. 

I made an appointment to preach in a school-house, on 
that street, and when I arrived the house was very much 
crowded. I took for my text : " The curse of the Lord is in 
the house of the wicked." The Lord gave me a very clear 
view of the subject, and I was enabled to bring out the truth 
effectively. I told them that I understood that there was not 
a praying family in that whole district. The fact is, the town 
was in an awful state. The influence of Mr. B , their for- 
mer minister, now an infidel, had borne its legitimate fruit ; 
and there was but very little conviction of the truth and 
reality of religion left, among the impenitent in that town. 
This meeting that I have spoken of, resulted in the convic- 
tion of nearly all that were present, I believe, at the meet- 
ing. The revival spread in that neighborhood ; and I 

recollect that in this M family, there were seventeen 

hopeful conversions. 

But there were several families in the town who were 
quite prominent in influence, who did not attend the meet* 



232 MEMOIliS OF CUAKLES G. EIHtfEY. 

ings. It seemed that they were so much under the in- 
fluence of Mr. B -, that they were determined not to 

attend. However, in the midst of the revival, this Mr. 

B died a horrible death ; and this put an end to his 

opposition. 

I have said there were several families in town that did 
not attend meeting ; and I could devise no means by which 

they could be induced to attend. The Miss S of New 

Lebanon, who was converted at Troy, heard that these 
families did not attend, and came up to Stephen town ; and 
as her father was a man very well known and very much 
respected, she was received with respect and deference in 
any family that she wished to visit. She went and called 
on one of these families. I believe she was acquainted with 
their daughters, and induced them to accompany her to 
meeting. They soon became so interested that they needed 
no influence to persuade them to attend. She then went to 
another, with the same result, and to another ; and finally, 
I believe, secured the attendance of all those families that 
had stayed away. These families were nearly or quite all 
converted before I left the town. Indeed nearly all the 
principal inhabitants of the town were gathered into the 
church, and the town was morally renovated. I have 
never been there since that time, which was in the fall of 
1827. But I have often heard from there, and the revival 
produced permanent results. The converts turned out to 
be sound ; and the church has maintained a good degree of 
spiritual vigor. 

As elsewhere, the striking characteristics of this revival, 
were a mighty spirit of prevailing prayer ; overwhelming 
conviction of sin ; sudden and powerful conversions to 
Christ ; great love and abounding joy of the converts, and 
their great earnestness, activity, and usefulness in their 
prayeis and' labors for others. This revival occurred in the 
town adjoining New Lebanon, and immediately after the 
convention. The opposition had, at that convention, received 



RBVIY^L IX STEPHEtfTOWK. 233 

its death-blow. I have seldom labored in a revival with 
greater comfort to myself, or with less opposition, than in 
Stephentown. At first the people chafed a little under the 
preaching, but with such power was it set home by the 
Holy Spirit, that I soon heard no more complaint 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

sasvrvALS at wilmikgtok akd at Philadelphia. 

WHILE I was laboring at New Lebanon, the preceding 
summer, Rev. Mr. Gilbert of Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, whose father resided in New Lebanon, came there on 
a visit. Mr. Gilbert was very old-school in his theological 
views, but a good and earnest man. His love of souls over- 
ruled all difficulty on nice questions of theological difference, 
between him and myself. He heard me preach in New 
Lebanon, and saw the results ; and he was very earnest that 
J should come and aid him in Wilmington. 

As soon as I could see my way clear to leave Stephentown, 
therefore, I went to Wilmington, and engaged in labors with 
Mr, Gilbert. I soon found that his teaching had placed the 
church in a position that rendered it impossible to promote 
a revival among them, till their views could be corrected. 
They seemed to be afraid to make any effort, lest they should 
take the work out of the hands of God. They had the old- 
est of the old-school views of doctrine ; and consequently 
their theory was that God would convert sinners in his own 
time ; and that therefore to urge them to immediate repent- 
ance, and in shorfc to attempt to promote a revival, was to at- 
tempt to make men Christians by human agency, aud human 
strength, and thus to dishonor God by taking the work out 
of his hands. I observed also, that in their prayers there was 
no urgency for an immediate outpouring of the Spirit, and 
that this was all in accordance with the views in which they 
had been educated. 

It was plain that nothing could be done, unless Mr. Gil- 
bert's views could be changed upon this subject. I there- 



REVIVAL AT AVILMI^GTOlf. 235 

fore spent hours each day in conversing with him on hia 
peculiar views. We talked the subject all oyer in a brotherly 
manner ; and after laboring with him in this way for two 
or three weeks, I saw that his mind was prepared to have my 
own views brought before his people. The next Sabbath, I 
took for my text : " Make to yourselves a new heart and a new 
spirit ; for why will ye die ? " I went thoroughly into the 
subject of the sinner's responsibility ; and showed what a 
new heart is not, and what it is. I preached about two 
hours ; and did not sit down till I had gone as thoroughly 
over the whole subject, as very rapid speaking would enable 
me to do, in that length of time. 

The congregation became intensely interested, and great 
numbers rose and stood on their feet, in every part of the 
house. The house was completely rilled, and there were 
strange looks in the assembly. Some looked distressed and 
offended, others intensely interested. Not unfrequently, 
when I brought out strongly the contrast between my own 
views, and the views in which they had been instructed, 
some laughed, some wept, some were manifestly angry ; but 
I do not recollect that any one left the house. It was a 
strange excitement. 

In the meantime, Mr. Gilbert moved himself from one 
end of the sofa to the other, in the pulpit behind me. I 
could hear him breathe and sigh, and could not help observ- 
ing that he was himself in the greatest anxiety. However, I 
knew I had him, in his convictions, fast; but whether he 
would make up his mind to withstand what would be said by 
his people, I did not know. But I was preaching to please 
the Lord, and not man. I thought that it might be the last 
time I should ever preach there ; but purposed, at all events, 
to tell them the truth, and the whole truth, on that subject, 
whatever the result might be. 

I endeavored to show that if man were as helpless as 
their views represented him to be, he was not to blame for 
his sins. If he had lost in Adam all power of obedience, so 



236 MEMOIRS OF CHAKLES G. FINNEY. 

that obedience had become impossible to him, and that nri 
by his own act or consent, but by the act of Adam, it was 
mere nonsense to say that he could be blamed for what he 
could not help. I had endeavored also to show that, in that 
case, the atonement was no grace, but really a debt due to man- 
kind, on the part of God, for having placed them in a con- 
dition so deplorable and so unfortunate. Indeed, the Lord 
helped me to show up, I think, with irresistible clearness the 
peculiar dogmas of old-schoolism and their inevitable results. 

When I was through, I did not call upon Mr. Gilbert to 
pray, for I dared not ; but prayed myself that the Lord 
would set home the word, make it understood, and give a 
candid mind to weigh what had been said, and to receive 
the truth, and to reject what might be erroneous. I then 
dismissed the assembly, and went down the pulpit stairs, 
Mr. Gilbert following me. The congregation withdrew very 
slowly, and many seemed to be standing and waiting for 
something, in almost every part of the house. The aisles 
were cleared pretty nearly ; and the rest of the congregation 
seemed to remain in a waiting position, as if they supposed 
they should hear from Mr. Gilbert, upon what had been said. 
Mrs. Gilbert, however, went immediately out. 

As I came down the pulpit stairs, I observed two ladies 
sitting on the left hand of the aisle through which we must 
pass, to whom I had been introduced, and who, I knew, 
were particular friends and supporters of Mr. Gilbert. I 
saw that they looked partly grieved, and partly offended, 
and greatly astonished. The first we reached, who was near 
the pulpit stairs, took hold of Mr. Gilbert as he was follow- 
ing behind me, and said to him, " Mr. Gilbert, what do you 
think of that?" She spoke in a loud whisper. He replied 
in the same manner, "It is worth five hundred dollars.'*' 
That greatly gratified me, and affected me very much. She 
replied, "Then you have never preached the Gospel." 
"Well," said he, "I am sorry to say I never have." We 
passed along, and then the other lady said to him about the 



BBYIVAL AT WILMItfGTOtf. 237 

same things, and received a similar reply. That was 
enough for me ; I made my way to the door and went out. 
Those that had gone out were standing, many of them, in 
front of the house, discussing vehemently the things that 
had been said. As I passed along the streets going to Mr. 
Gilbert's, where I lodged, I found the streets full of excite- 
ment and discussion. The people were comparing views ; 
and from the few words that escaped from those that did 
not observe me as I passed along, I saw that the impression 
was decidedly in favor of what had been said. 

When I arrived at Mr. Gilbert's, his wife accosted me as 
soon as I entered, by saying, "Mr. Finney, how dared you 
preach any such thing in our pulpit?" I replied, "Mrs. 
Gilbert, I did not dare to preach anything else ; it is the 
truth of God." She replied, "Well, it is true that God 
was in justice bound to make an atonement for mankind. I 
have always felt it, though I never dared say it. I believed 
that if the doctrine preached by Mr. Gilbert was true, God 
was under obligation, as a matter of justice, to make an 
atonement, and to save me from those circumstances in 
which it was impossible for me to help myself, and from a 
condemnation which I did not deserve." 

Just at this moment Mr. Gilbert entered. " There," 
said I, "Brother Gilbert, you see the results of your preach- 
ing, here in your own family ; " and then repeated to him 
what his wife had just said. He replied, " I have some- 
times thought that my wife was one of the most pious women 
that I ever knew ; and at other times I have thought that 
lie had no religion at all." "Why!" I exclaimad, "she 
nas always thought that God owed her, as a matfr r of jus- 
tice, the salvation provided in Christ ; how can she be a 
Christian ? " This was all said, by each of us, with the 
greatest solemnity and earnestness. Upon my making the 
last remark, she got up and left the room. The house was 
very solemn ; and for two days, I believe, I did not s^e her. 
She then came out clear, not only in the truth, buf in the 



MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FLff2*EY. 

state of her own mind ; having passed through a complete 
revolution of views and experience. 

From this point the work went forward. The truth was 
worked out admirably by the Holy Spirit. Mr. Gilbert's 
views became greatly changed ; and also his style of preach- 
ing, and manner of presenting the Gospel. So far as I know, 
antil the day of his death, his views remained corrected, 
new school as opposed to the old school views which he 
had before maintained. 

The effect of this sermon upon many of Mr. Gilbert's 
church members was very peculiar. I have spoken of the 
lady who asked him what he thought of it. She afterwards 
told me that she -was so offended, to think that all her views 
of religion were so overthrown, that she promised herself 
she never would pray again. She had been in the habit of 
so far justifying herself because of her sinful nature, and 
had taken, in her own mind, such a position as Mrs. Gilbert 
had held, that my preaching on that subject had completely 
subverted her views, her religion, and all. She remained in 
this state of rebellion, if I recollect right, for some six weeks, 
before she would pray again. She then broke down, and 
became thoroughly changed in her views and religious experi- 
ence. And this, I believe, was the case with a large number 
of that church. 

In the meantime I had been induced to go up and preach 
for Mr. Patterson, at Philadelphia, twice each week. I 
went up on the steamboat and preached in the evening, and 
returned the next day and preached at Wilmington ; thus 
alternating my evening services between Wilmington and 
Philadelphia. The distance was about forty miles. The 
word took so much effect in Philadelphia as to convince me 
that it was my duty to leave Mr. Gilbert to carry on the 
work in Wilmington, while I gave my whole time to labor 
in Philadelphia. 

Kev. James Patterson, with whom I first labored in Phil- 
adelphia, held the views of theology then held at Princeton, 



REVIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA 239 

since known as the theology of the old school Presbyterians. 
But he was a godly man, and cared a great deal more for 
the salvation of souls, than for nice question/3 about ability 
and inability, or any of those points of doctrine upon which 
the old and new school Presbyterians differ. His wife held 
the New England views of theology ; that is, she believed in 
a general, as opposed to a restricted atonement, and agreed 
with what was called New England orthodoxy, as distin- 
guished from Princeton orthodoxy. 

It will be remembered that at this time I belonged to the 
Presbyterian church myself. I had been licensed and 
ordained by a presbytery, composed mostly of men educated 
at Princeton. I havp also said that when I was licensed to 
preach the gospel, I was asked whether I received the Pres- 
byterian confession of faith, as containing the substance of 
Christian doctrine. 1 replied that I did, so far as I under- 
stood it. But not expecting to be asked any such question, 
I had never examined it with any attention, and I think I 
had never read it through. But when I came to read the 
confession of faith and ponder it, I saw that although I 
could receive it, as I now know multitudes. of Presbyterians 
do, as containing the substance of Christian doctrine, yet 
there were several prints upon which I could not put the 
same construction that was put on them at Princeton ; and 
I accordingly, every vhere, gave the people to understand 
that I did not accept that construction ; or if that was 
the true construction, then I entirely differed from the 
confession of faith. I suppose that Mr. Patterson under- 
stood this before i went to labor with him ; as when I took 
that course in h ; .s pulpit he expressed no surprise. Indeed, 
he did not at all object to it. 

The revival took such hold in his congregation as greatly 
to interest him ; and as he saw that God was blessing the 
word as I presented it, he stood firmly by me, and never, in 
any case, objected to anything that I advanced. Sometimes 
when we returned from meeting. Mrs. Patterson would smii- 



240 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FINNEY. 

ingly remark, "Now you see Mr. Patterson, that Mr 
Finney does not agree with you on those points upon which 
we have so often conversed." He would always, in the great- 
ness of his Christian faith and love, reply, " Well, the 
Lord blesses it." 

The interest became so great that our congregations were 
packed at every meeting. One day Mr. Patterson said to 
me, " Brother Finney, if the Presbyterian ministers in this 
city find out your views, and what you are preaching to the 
people, they will hunt you out of the city as they would a 
wolf." I replied, "I cannot help it. I can preach no 
other doctrine ; and if they must drive me out of the city, 
let them do it, and take the responsibility. But I do not 
believe that they can get me out." 

However, the ministers did not take the course that he 
predicted, by any means ; but nearly all received me to their 
pulpits. When they learned what was going on at Mr. 
Patterson's church and that many of their own church 
members were greatly interested, they invited me to preach 
for them ; and if I recollect right, I preached in all of the 
Presbyterian churches, except that of Arch street. 

Philadelphia was at that time a unit, almost, in regard 
to the views of theology held at Princeton. Dr. Skinner 
held, to some extent, what have since been known as new 
school views ; and differed enough from the tone of theology 
round about him, to be suspected as not altogether sound, 
according to the prevailing orthodoxy. I have ever regarded 
it as a most remarkable thing, that, so far as I know, my 
doctrinal views did not prove a stumbling-block in that city ; 
nor was my orthodoxy openly called in question, by any of the 
ministers or churches. I preached in the Dutch church to 
Dr. Livingston's congregation ; and I found that he sympa- 
thized with my views, and encouraged me, with all his 
Influence, to go on and preach the preaching that tho Lord 
had bidden me. I did not hesitate everywhere, and on aU 



REVIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 241 

occasions, to present my own views of theology, and those 
which I had everywhere presented to the churches. 

Mr. Patterson was himself, I believe, greatly surprised 
that I met no open opposition from the ministers or churches, 
on account of my theological views. Indeed, I did not pre- 
sent them at all in a controversial way ; but simply employed 
them in my instructions to saints and sinners, in a way so 
natural as not, perhaps, to excite very much attention, ex- 
cept with discriminating theologians. But many things 
that I said were new to the people. For example, one night 
I preached on this text : " There is one God, and one Medi- 
ator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave 
himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." This 
was a sermon on the atonement, in which I took the view 
that I have always held, of its nature and of its universality ; 
and stated, as strongly as I could, those points of difference 
between my own views and those that were held by limited- 
atonement theologians. This sermon attracted so much at- 
tention, and excited so much interest, that I was urged to 
preach on the same subject in other churches. The more I 
preached upon it, the more desirous people were to hear ; 
and the excitement became so general, that I preached on 
that subject seven different evenings in succession, in as 
many different churches. 

It would seem that the people had heard much said 
against what was called Hopkinsianism ; the two great points 
of which were understood to be, that man ought to be will- 
ing to be damned for the glory of God, and that God was 
the author of sin. In preaching, I sometimes noticed these 
points, and took occasion to denounce Hopkinsianism ; and 
said that they appeared to have too much of it in Philadel- 
phia ; that their great neglect in attending to the salvation 
of their souls looked very much as if they were willing 
to be damned ; and that they must hold that God was the 
author of sin, for they maintained that their nature was sin- 
ful. This I turned over and over, and these two points 1 
11 



242 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FINKEY. 

dwelt upon. I heard again and again that the people said v 
"Well, he is no Hopkinsian." Indeed, I felt it my duty to 
expose all the hiding-places of sinners, and to hunt them 
out from under those peculiar views of orthodoxy, in which 
I found them entrenched. 

The revival spread, and took a powerful hold. All our 
meetings for preaching, for prayer, and for inquiry, were 
crowded. There were a great many more inquirers than we 
could well attend to. It was late in the fall when I took 
my lodgings in Philadelphia, and I continued to labor there 
without any intermission until the following August, 1828. 

As in other places, there were some cases of very bitter 
opposition on the part of individuals. In one case, a mpn 
whose wife was very deeply convicted, was so enraged that 
he came in, and took his wife out of meeting by force. 
Another case I recollect as a very striking one, of a German 
whose name I cannot now recall. He was a tobacconist. 
He had a very amiable and intelligent wife ; and was him- 
self, as I afterwards found, when I became acquainted with 
him, an intelligent man. He was, however, a sceptic, and 
had no confidence in religion at all. His wife, however, 
came to our meetings, and became very much concerned 
about her soul ; and after a severe struggle of many days, 
she was thoroughly converted. As she attended meetings 
frequently, and became very much interested, it soon 
attracted the attention of her husband, and he began to 
oppose her being a Christian. He had, as I learned, a 
hasty temper, and was a man of athletic frame, and of great 
resolution and fixedness of purpose. As his wife became 
more and more interested, his opposition increased, till 
finally he forbade her attending meetings any more. 

She then called to see me, and asked my advice with 
r«gard to what course she should take. I told her that her 
first obligation was to God ; that she was undoubtedly under 
obligation to obey his commands, even if they conflicted 
with the commands of her husband; and that, while 1 



REVIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 243 

advised her to avoid giving him offence if she could, md 
do her duty to God, still in no case to omit what she 
regarded as her daty to God, for the sake of complying with 
his wishes. I told her that, as he was an infidel, his opinions 
on religious subjects were not to be respected, and that she 
could not safely follow his advice. She was well aware of 
this. He was a man that paid no attention to religion at 
all, except to oppose it. 

In accordance with my advice, she attended the meetings 
as she had opportunity, and received instructions ; and she 
soon came into the liberty of the Gospel, had great faith and 
peace of mind, and enjoyed much of the presence of God. 
This highly displeased her husband ; and he finally went so» 
far as to threaten her life, if she went to meeting again. She 
had so frequently seen him angry, that she had no confidence 
that he would fulfil his threat. She told him calmly that 
whatever it cost her, her mind was made up to do her duty 
to God ; that she felt it her duty to avail herself of the 
opportunity to get the instruction she needed ; and that she 
must attend those meetings, whenever she could do it with- 
out neglecting her duty to her family. 

One Sabbath evening, when he found she was going to 
meeting, he renewed his threat that if she went he would 
take her life. She told me afterward that she had no thought 
that it was anything but a vain threat. She calmly replied 
to him that her duty was plain ; that there was no reason 
why she should remain at home at that time, but simply to 
comply with his unreasonable wishes ; and that to stay at 
home, under such circumstances, would be entirely incon- 
sistent with her duty to God and to herself. She therefore 
went to meeting. When she returned from meeting, she 
found him in a great rage. As soon as she entered the door 
he locked it after her, and took out the key, and then drew a 
dagger and swore he would take her life. She ran up stairs 
He caught a light to follow her. The servant girl blew out 
the light as he passed by her. This left them both in the 



244 MEMOIES OF CHAHLES G. FIHKEY. 

dark. She ran up and through the rooms in the second 
story, found her way down into the kitchen, and then to the 
cellar. He could not follow her in the dark ; and she got out 
of the cellar window, and went to a friend's house and spent 
the night. 

Taking it for granted that he would be ashamed of his 
rage before morning, she went home early, and entered the 
house, and found things in the greatest disorder. He had 
broken some of the furniture, and acted like a man distracted. 
He again locked the door, as soon as she was fairly in the 
house ; and drawing a dagger, he threw himself upon his 
knees and held up his hands, and took the most horrible 
oath that he would there take her life. She looked at him 
with astonishment and fled. She ran up stairs, but it was 
light, and he followed her. She ran from room to room, till 
finally, she entered the last, from which there was no escape. 
She turned around and faced him. She threw herself upon 
her knees, as he was about to strike her with his dagger, and 
lifted up her hands to heaven, and cried for mercy upon her- 
self and upon him. At this point God arrested him. She 
said he looked at her for a moment, dropped his dagger, and 
fell upon the floor and cried for mercy himself. He then 
and there broke down, confessed his sins to God and to her ; 
and begged God, and begged her, to forgive him. 

From that moment he was a wonderfully changed man. 
He became one of the most earnest Christian converts. He 
was greatly attached to myself ; and some year or two after 
this, as he heard that I was to come to Philadelphia, in a 
certair steamboat, he was the first man in Philadelphia that 
met and greeted me. I received him and his wife into the 
church, before I left Philadelphia, and baptized their chil- 
dren. I have not seen or heard from them for many years. 

But while there were individual cases of singular bitter- 
ness and opposition to religion, still I was not annoyed or 
hindered by anything like public opposition. The ministers 
received me kindly ; and in no instance that I recollect, did 



REVIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 245 

they speak publicly, if indeed they did privately, against 
the work that was going on. 

After preaching in Mr. Patterson's church for several 
months and, more or less, in nearly all the Presbyterian 
churches in the city, it was thought best that I should take 
up a central position, and preach steadily in one place. In 
Race street there was a large German church, the pastor of 
which was a Mr. Helfenstein. The elders of the congrega- 
tion, together with their pastor, requested me to occupy 
their pulpit. Their house was then, I think, the largest 
house of worship in the city. It was always crowded ; and 
it was said, it seated three thousand people, when the house 
was packed and the aisles were filled. There I preached 
statedly for many months. I had an opportunity to preach 
to a great many Sabbath-school teachers. Indeed it was 
said that the Sabbath-school teachers throughout the city 
generally attended my ministry. 

About midsummer of 1829, I left for a short time, and 
visited my wife's parents in Oneida county, and then re- 
turned to Philadelphia, and labored there until about mid- 
winter. I do not recollect exact dates, but think that in all, 
I labored in Philadelphia about a year and a hall In all 
this time there was no abatement of the revival, that I could 
see. The converts became numerous in every part of the 
city ; but I never had any knowledge, nor could I form any 
estimate of their exact number. I never had labored any- 
where where I was received more cordially ; and where 
Christians, and especially converts, appeared better than 
they did there. There was no jar or schism among them, 
that I ever knew of ; and I never heard of any disastrous 
influence resulting from that revival. 

There were a great many interesting facts connected with 
this revival. I recollect that a young woman who was the 
daughter of a minister of the old school stamp, attended my 
ministry at Mr. Patterson's church, and became awfully 
convicted. Her convictions were so deep, that she finally 



246 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

fell into a most distressing despair. She told me she had 
been taught from her childhood by her father, that if she 
was one of the elect, she would be converted in due time ; 
and that until she was converted, and her nature changed by 
the Spirit of God, she could do nothing for herself, but to 
read her Bible, and pray for a new heart. 

When she was quite young she had been greatly convicted 
of sin, but had followed her father's instruction, had read 
her Bible, and prayed for a new heart, and thought that 
was all that was required of her. She waited to be con- 
verted, and thus for evidence that she was one of the elect. 
In the midst of her great struggle of soul on the subject of 
her salvation, something had come up relative to the ques- 
tion of marriage ; and she promised God that she never 
would give her hand to any man till she was a Christian. 
When she made the promise, she said that she expected God 
would very soon convert her. But her convictions passed 
away. She was not converted ; and still that promise to 
God was upon her soul, and she dared not break it. 

When she was about eighteen years of age, a young man 
proposed to make her his wife. She approved, but as that 
vow was upon her, she could not consent to be married until 
she was a Christian. She said they greatly loved each other, 
and he urged her to be married without delay. But with- 
out telling him her real reason, she kept deferring it from 
time to time, for some five years, if I recollect right, waiting 
for God to convert her. Finally in riding one day, the young 
man was thrown from the carriage, and instantly killed. 
This aroused the enmity of her heart against God. She ac- 
cused God of dealing hardly with her. She said that she 
had been waiting for him to convert her, and had been 
faithful to her promise, not to get married until she was con- 
verted ; that she had kept her lover for years waiting for 
her to get ready ; and now, behold ! God had cut him off, 
and she was still unconverted. 

She had learned that the young man was a Universalist , 



REVIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 24? 

and now she was greatly interested to believe that Universal- 
ism was true, and would not believe that God had sent him 
to hell ; and if he had sent him to hell, she could not be re- 
conciled to it at all. Thus she had been warring with God, 
for a considerable time, before she came to our meetings, 
supposing that the blame of her not being converted, was 
chargeable upon God, and not upon herself. 

When she heard my preaching, and found that all hei 
refuges of lies were torn away, and saw that she should have 
given her heart to God long before, and all would have been 
well ; she saw that she herself had been entirely to blame, 
and that the instructions of her father on all those points 
had been entirely wrong ; and remembering, as she did, how 
she had blamed God, and what a blasphemous attitude she 
had maintained before him, she very naturally despaired of 
mercy. I reasoned with her, and tried to show her the 
long-suffering of God, and encouraged her to hope, to be- 
lieve, and to lay hold upon eternal life. But her sense of sin 
was so great, that she seemed unable to grasp the promise, and 
sunk down deeper and deeper into despair, from day to day. 

After laboring with her a great deal, I became greatly 
distressed about her case. At the close of every meeting she 
would follow me home, with her despairing complaints, and 
would exhaust me by appeals to my sympathy and Christian 
compassion for her soul. After this state of things had 
continued for many weeks, one morning she called upon me 
in company with an aunt of hers, who had become greatly con • 
cerned about her, and who thought her on the very verge of 
a desperate insanity. I was myself of the opinion that it 
would result in that, if she would not believe. Catharine — 
for that was her name — came into my room in her usually 
despairing way ; but with a look of wildness in her face that 
indicated a state of mind that was unendurable ; and at the 
moment, I think it was the Spirit of God that suggested to 
my mind, to take an entirely different course with her from 
what I had ever taken. 



248 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKNEY, 

I said to her, " Catharine, you profess to believe that 
God is good." "0 yes!" she said, "I believe that/ 
" Well, you have often told me that his goodness forbids 
him to have mercy on you — that your sins have been so 
great that it would be a dishonor to him to forgive you and 
save you. You have often confessed to me that you believed 
that God would forgive you if he wisely could ; but that 
your forgiveness would be an injury to him, to his govern- 
ment, and to his universe, and therefore he cannot forgive 
you." "Yes," she said, "I believe that." I replied, 
" Then your difficulty is that you want God to sin, to act 
unwisely and injure himself and the universe for the sake of 
saving you." She opened and set her large blue eyes upon 
me, and looked partly surprised and partly indignant. But 
I proceeded : " Yes ! you are in great trouble and anguish 
of mind, because God will not do wrong, because he will 
persist in being good, whatever may become of you. You 
go about in the greatest distress of mind, because God will not 
be persuaded to violate his own sense of propriety and dut}', 
and save you to his own injury, and that of the entire uni- 
verse. You think yourself of more consequence than Gcd 
and all the universe ; and cannot be happy unless God 
makes himself and everybody else unhappy, in making you 
happy." 

I pressed this upon her. She looked with the utmost 
astonishment at me, and after a few moments she submitted. 
She seemed to be almost instantly subdued, like a little 
child. She said, "I accept it. Let God send me to hell, 
if he thinks that is the best thing to be done. 1 do not 
want him to save me at his own expense, and at the expense 
f the universe. Let him do what seemeth him good." I 
got up instantly and left the room ; and to get entirely away 
from her, I went out and got into a carriage and rode 
away. When I returned she had gone of course ; but in the 
afternoon she and her aunt returned, to declare what God 
"bad done for her soul. She was filled with joy and peace, 



EEYTY AL AT PHILADELPHIA. 249 

and became one of the most submissive, humble, beautif al 

/onyerts that I have known. 
Another young woman, I recollect, a very beautiful girl, 
perhaps twenty years old, called to see me under great con- 
viction of sin. I asked her, among other things, if she was 
convinced that she had been so wicked, that God might in 
justice send her to hell. She replied in the strongest lan- 
guage, "Yes ! I deserve a thousand hells." She was gayly, 
and I tliink, richly dressed. I had a very thorough conver- 
sation with her, and she broke down in heart, and gave her- 
self to Christ. She was a very humble, broken-hearted 
convert. I learned that she went home and gathered up a 
great many of her artificial flowers and ornaments, with 
which she had decked herself, and of which she was very 
vain, and passed through the room with then" in her hands. 
They asked her what she was going to do with them. She 
said she was going to burn them up. Said she, " I will 
never wear them again." "Well," they said to her, "if 
you will not wear them, you can sell them ; don't burn 
them." But she said, " If I sell them, somebody else will be 
as vain of them, as I have been myself ; I will burn them 
up." And she actually put them into the fire. 

A few days after this she called on me, and said that she 
had, in passing through the market, I think that morning, 
observed a very richly dressed lady, in the market. Her 
compassions were so stirred, that she went up to her and 
asked if she might speak to her. The lady replied that she 
might. She said to her, "My dear madam, are you not 
proud of your dress, and are you not vain, and neglecting 
the salvation of your soul ?" She said that she herself burst 
into tears as she said it, and told the lady a little of her own 
experience, how she had been attached to dress, and how it 
nad well-nigh ruined her soul. "Now," said she, "you are 
a beautiful lady, and are finely dressed ; are you not in the 
same state of mind that I was in myself ? " She said the 
lady wept, and confessed that that had been her snare ; and 
11* 



250 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLNJSTEX. 

she was afraid that her love of dress and society would ruin 
her soul. She confessed that she had been neglecting the 
salvation of her soul, because she did not know how to break 
away from the circle in which she moved. The young lad> 
wanted to know if I thought she had done wrong, in what 
she said to the lady. I told her, no ! that I wished all 
Christians were as faithful as she ; and that I hoped she 
would never cease to warn her own sex, against that which 
had so nearly ruined her own soul. 

In the spring of 1829, when the Delaware was high, 
the lumbermen came down with their rafts from the region 
of the high land, where they had been getting the lumber 
out, during the winter. At that time there was a large 
tract of country, along the northern region of Pennsylvania, 
called by many " the lumber region," that extended up 
toward the head waters of the Delaware river. Many per- 
sons were engaged in getting out lumber there, summer and 
winter. Much of this lumber was floated down in the spring 
of the year, when the water was high, to Philadelphia. 
They would get out their lumber when the river was low ; 
and when the snow went off, and the spring rains came on, 
they would throw it into the river and float it down to where 
they could build rafts, or otherwise embark it for the Phila- 
delphia market. 

Many of the lumbermen were raising families in that 
region, and there was a large tract of country there unset- 
tled and unoccupied, except by these lumbermen. They had 
no schools, and at that time, had no churches or religious 
privileges at all. I knew a minister who told me he was 
born in that lumber region ; and that when he was twenty 
years old, he had never attended a religious meeting, and 
did not know his alphabet. 

These men that came down with lumber, attended oui 
meetings, and quite a number of them were hopefully con- 
verted. They went back into the wilderness, and began 
to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and to tell th« 



BEVIYAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 251 

people around them what they had seen in Philadelphia, 
and to exhort them to attend to their salvation. Their 
efforts were immediately blessed, and the revival began to 
take hold, and to spread among those lumbermen. It went 
on in a most powerful and remarkable manner. It spread 
to such an extent that in many cases persons would be con- 
victed and converted, who had not attended any meetings, 
and who were almost as ignorant as heathen. Men who were 
getting out lumber, and were living in little shanties alone, 
or where two or three or more were together, would be 
seized with such conviction that it would lead them to wan- 
der off and inquire what they should do ; and they would 
be converted, and thus the revival spread. There was the 
greatest simplicity manifested by the converts. 

An aged minister who had been somewhat acquainted 
with the state of things, related to me as an instance of what 
was going on there, the following fact. He said one man 
in a certain place, had a little shanty by himself where he 
slept nights, and was getting out his shingles during the day. 
He began to feel that he was a sinner, and his convictions 
increased upon him until he broke down, confessed his sins, 
and repented ; and the Spirit of God revealed to him so 
much of the way of salvation, that he evidently knew the 
Saviour. But he had never attended a prayer-meeting, or 
heard a prayer, that he recollected, in his life. His feelings 
became such, that he finally felt constrained to go and tell 
some of his acquaintances, that were getting out lumber in 
another place, how he felt. But when he arrived, he found 
that they felt, a good many of them, just as he did ; and 
that they were holding prayer-meetings. He attended their 
prayer-meetings, and heard them pray, and finally prayed 
himself ; and this was the form of his prayer : " Lord you 
have got me down and I hope you will keep me down. And 
since you have had so good luck with me, I hope you will 
try other sinners." 

I have said that this work began ;n the spring of 1829. 



252 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKNET. 

In the spring of 1831, I was at Auburn again. Two 01 
three men from this lumber region, came there to see me, 
and to inquire how they could get some ministers to go in 
there. They said that not less than five thousand people 
had been converted in that lumber region ; that the revival 
had extended itself along for eighty miles, and there was not 
a single minister of the gospel there. 

I have never been in that region ; but from all I have 
ever heard about it, I have regarded that as one of the most 
remarkable revivals that have occurred in this country. It 
was carried on almost independently of the ministry, among 
a class of people very ignorant, in regard to all ordinary 
instruction ; and yet so clear and wonderful were the teach- 
ings of God, that I have always understood the revival wad 
remarkably free from fanaticism, or wildness, or anything 
that was objectionable. I may have been misinformed in 
some respects, but report the matter as I have understood it. 
" Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth ! " The 
spark that was struck into the hearts of those few lumber- 
men that came to Philadelphia, spread over that forest, and 
resulted in the salvation of a multitude of souls. 

I found Mr. Patterson to be one of the truest and holiest 
men that I have ever labored with. His preaching was 
quite remarkable. He preached with great earnestness ; 
but there was often no connection in what he said, and very 
little relation to his text. He has often said to me, " When 
I preach, I preach from Genesis to Kevelation." He would 
take a text, and after making a few remarks upon it, or 
perhaps none at all, some other text would be suggested to 
him, upon which he would make some very pertinent and 
striking remarks, and then another text ; and thus his 
sermons were made up of pithy and striking remarks upon 
a great number of texts, as they arose in his mind. 

He was a tall man, of striking figure and powerful voice. 
He would preach with the tears rolling down his cheeks, 
and with an earnestness and pathos that were very striking. 



BEVIYAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 25? 

It was impossible to hear him preach without being im- 
pressed with a sense of his intense earnestness and his great 
honesty. I only heard him preach occasionally ; and when 
I first did so, was pained, thinking that such was the ram- 
bling nature of his preaching that it could not take effect. 
However, I found myself mistaken. I found that notwith- 
standing the rambling nature of his preaching, his great 
earnestness and unction fastened the truth on the hearts of 
his hearers ; and I think I never heard him preach without 
finding that some persons were deeply convicted by what he 
said. 

He always used to have a revival of religion every 
winter ; and at the time when I labored with him, I think 
he told me he had had a revival for fourteen winters in 
succession. He had a praying people. When I was labor- 
ing with him I recollect that, for two or three days, at one 
time, there seemed to be something in the way. The work 
seemed to be in a measure suspended ; and I began to feel 
alarmed lest something had grieved the Holy Spirit. One 
evening at prayer-meeting, while this state of things was 
becoming manifest, one of his elders arose and made a con- 
fession. He said, " Brethren, the Spirit of God has been 
grieved, and I have grieved him. I have been in the habit," 
said he, "of praying for brother Patterson, and for the 
preaching, on Saturday night, until midnight. This has 
been my habit for many years, to spend Saturday night, till 
midnight, in imploring the blessing of God upon the labors 
of the Sabbath. Last Saturday night," he continued, "I 
was fatigued, and omitted it. I thought the work was 
going on so pleasantly and so powerfully, that I might 
indulge myself, and go to bed without looking to God for a 
blessing on the labors of the Sabbath. On the Sabbath," 
said he, "I was impressed with the conviction that I had 
grieved the Spirit ; and I saw fhat there was not the usual 
manifestation of the influence of the Spirit upon the congre- 
gation. I have felt convicted ever since ; and have felt that 



204 MEMOIES OF CHARLES Q. FLffNETt. 

it was my duty to make this public confession. I do not 
know," said he, "who beside myself has grieved the Spirit 
of God ; but I am sure that I have done so." 

I have spoken of Mr. Patterson's orthodoxy. When I 
first began to labor with him, I felt considerably tried, in 
some instances, with what he would say to convicted sinners. 
For example : the first meeting for inquirers that we had, 
the number in attendance was very large. We spent some 
time in conversing with different persons, and moving around 
from place to place, giving instructions. The first I knew 
Mr. Patterson arose, and in a very excited manner, said, 
" My friends, you have turned your faces Zionward, and 
now I exhort you to press forward." He went on in an ex- 
hortation of a few moments, in which he made, distinctly, 
the impression that they were now in the right way ; and 
that they had only to press forward as they were doing then 
and they would be saved. His remarks pained me exceed- 
ingly ; for they seemed to me to tend to self-righteousness, 
to make the impression that they were doing very well, and 
that if they continued to do their duty, as they were then 
doing it, they would be saved. 

This was not my view of their condition at all ; and I 
felt pained to hear such instructions given, and perplexed 
with the question how I should counteract it. However, at 
the close of the meeting, when, according to my custom, I 
summed up the results of our conversation, and made an 
address to them, I alluded to what Mr. Patterson had said, 
and remarked that they must not misunderstand what he 
had said ; that what he had said was true of those that had 
really turned to God, and set their faces Zionward, by giving 
their hearts to God. But they must not think of applying 
this to those of them who were convicted, but had not yet 
repented, believed, and given their hearts to God ; that 
instead of their faces being turned Zionward, they were 
really turning their backs upon Christ ; that they were still 
resisting the Holy Spirit ; that they were still in the way to 



REVIVAL AT PHILADELPHIA. 255 

hell ; that every moment they resisted they were waxmg 
worse ; and that every moment they remained impenitent, 
without submission, repentance, and faith, they were in- 
creasing their condemnation. The Lord gave me a very 
clear view of the subject. Mr. Patterson listened with the 
greatest possible attention. I never shall forget with what 
earnestness he looked at me, and with what interest he saw 
the discriminations that I made. 

I kept on in my address until I could see, and until I 
felt, that the impression made by what had been said, had 
not only been corrected, but that a great pressure was bear- 
ing upon them to submit immediately. I then called upon 
them to kneel down, and then and there commit themselves 
forever to the Lord, renouncing all their sins, and giving 
themselves up to the disposal of sovereign goodness, with faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I explained to them, as plainly 
as I could, the nature of the atonement, and the salvation 
presented in the Gospel. I then prayed with them, and 
have reason to believe that a great number of them were 
converted on the spot. 

After this I never heard anything from Mr. Patterson 
that was at all objectionable, in giving instruction to inquir- 
ing sinners. Indeed, I found him remarkably teachable, and 
his mind open to just discriminations. He seemed particu- 
larly quick to get hold of those truths that needed to be pre- 
sented to inquiring sinners ; and I presume to the day of his 
death, he never again presented such a view of the subject 
as the one to which I have alluded. I respect and reverence 
his very name. He was a lovely Christian man, and a faith- 
ful minister of Jesus Christ. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

BEVIVAL AT READING. 

AS I found myself in Philadelphia, in the heart of the 
Presbyterian church, and where Princeton views were 
almost universally embraced, I must say still more emphat- 
ically than I have done, if possible, that the greatest difficulty 
I met with in promoting revivals of religion, was the false 
instruction given to the people, and especially to inquiring 
sinners. Indeed, in all my ministerial life, in every place 
-.ind country where I have labored, I have found this diffi- 
culty to a greater or less extent ; and I am satisfied that 
multitudes are living in sin, who would immediately be con- 
verted if they were truly instructed. The foundation of the 
error of which I speak, is the dogma that human nature is 
ginful in itself ; and that, therefore, sinners are entirely un- 
able to become Christians. It is admitted, either expressly 
or virtually, that sinners may want to be Christians, and 
that they really do want to be Christians, and often try to 
be Christians, and yet somehow fail. 

It had been the practice, and still is to some extent, 
when ministers were preaching repentance, and urging the 
people to repent, to save their orthodoxy by telling them 
that they could not repent, any more than they could make 
a world. But the sinner must be set to do something ; and 
with all their orthodoxy, they could not bear to tell him that 
he had nothing to do. They must therefore, set him self- 
righteously to pray for a new heart. They would sometimes 
tell him to do his duty, to press forward in duty, to read hia 
Bible, to use the means of grace ; in short, they would tell 
him to do anything and everything, but the very thing which 



REVIVAL AT READIKG. 25? 

God commands him to do. God commands him to repent 
now, to believe now, to make to him a new heart now. But 
they were afraid to nrge God's claims in this form, .because 
they were continually telling the sinner that he had no 
ability whatever to do these things. 

As an illustration of what I have found in this and other 
countries, more or less, ever since I have been in the minis- 
try, I will refer to a sermon that I heard from the Rev. 
Baptist Noel, in England, a good man, and orthodox in the 
common acceptation of the term. His text was : " Repent 
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when 
the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the 
Lord. " In the first place he represented repentance not as 
a voluntary, but as an involuntary change, as consisting in 
sorrow for sin, a mere state of the sensibility. He then 
insisted upon its being the sinner's duty to repent, and urged 
the claims of God upon him. But he was preaching to an 
orthodox congregation ; and he must not, and did not, fail to 
remind them that they could not repent ; that although God 
required it of them, still he knew that it was impossible for 
them to repent, only as he gave them repentance. " You 
ask, then," he said, "what you shall do." " Go home," said 
he, in reply, " and pray for repentance ; and if it does not 
come, pray again for repentance ; and still if it does not come, 
keep praying till it does come." Here he left them. The con- 
gregation was large, and the people very attentive ; and I 
actually found it difficult to keep from screaming to the peo- 
ple, to repent, and not to think that they were doing theii 
duty in merely praying for repentance. 

Such instructions always pained me exceedingly; and 
much of my labor in the ministry has consisted in correcting 
these views, and in pressing the sinner immediately to do 
just what God commands him to do. When he has inquired 
of me, if the Spirit of God has nothing to do with it, I have 
said, "Yes ; as a matter of fact you will not do it of your- 
self. But the Spirit of God is now striving with you to lead 



458 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIN KEY. 

you to do just what he would have you do. He is striving 
to lead you to repentance, to lead you to believe ; and is 
striving with you, not to secure the performance of mere 
outward acts, but to change your heart." The church, to a 
very great extent, have instructed sinners to begin on the 
mitside in religion ; and by what they have called an out- 
ward performance of duty, to secure an inward change of 
their will and affections. 

But I have ever treated this as totally wrong, unorthodox, 
and in the highest degree dangerous. Almost innumerable 
instances have occurred, in which I have found the results of 
this teaching, of which I have complained, to be a misap- 
prehension of duty on the part of sinners; and I think I may 
say I have found thousands of sinners, of all ages, who are 
living under this delusion, and would never think themselves 
called upon to do anything more than merely to pray for a 
new heart, live a moral life, read their Bibles, attend meet 
ing, use the means of grace, and leave all the responsibility 
of their conversion and salvation with. God. 

From Philadelphia, in the winter of 1829-30, I went to 
Reading, a city about forty miles west of Philadelphia. At 
this place an incident occurred, which I shall mention in its 
place, that was a striking illustration of the kind of teach 
ing to which I have alluded, and of its natural results. In 
Reading there were several German churches, and one 
Presbyterian church. The pastor of the latter was the 
Rev. Dr. Greer. At his request, and that of the elders of 
the church, I went out to labor there for a time. 

I soon found, however, that neither Dr. Greer, nor any 
of his people, had any just idea of what they needed, or 
what a revival really was. None of them had ever seen a 
revival, so far as I could learn. Besides, all revival efforts, 
for that winter, had been forestalled, by an arrangement to 
have a ball every alternate week, which was attended by 
many of the members of the church, one of the leading eldera 
in Dr. Greeks church being one of the managers. I could 



REVIVAL AT READING. 259 

not learn that Dr. Greer had ever said anything against 
this. They had no preaching during the week, and I believe 
no religious meetings of any kind. 

When I found what the state of things was, I thought it 
my duty to tell Dr. Greer that those balls would very soon 
be giyen up, or I should not be allowed to occupy his pulpit ; 
that those balls, attended by his church members, and 
headed by one of his elders, would not long consist with my 
preaching. But he said, " Go on ; take your own course.'' 
I did so ; and preached three times on the Sabbath, and four 
times, I think, during the week, for about three weeks, 
before I said anything about any other meetings. We had 
no prayer-meetings, I believe, for the reason that the lay 
members had never been in the habit of taking part in such 
meetings. 

However, on the third Sabbath, I think, I gave notice 
that a meeting for inquiry would be held in the lecture- 
room, in the basement of the church, on Monday evening. 
I stated as clearly as possible the object of the meeting, and 
mentioned the class of persons that I desired to attend ; 
inviting those, and those only, that were seriously impressed 
with the state of their souls, and had made up their minds 
to attend immediately to the subject, and desired to receive 
instruction on the particular question of what they should 
do to be saved. Dr. Greer made no objection to this, as he 
had left everything to my judgment. But I do not think he 
had an idea that many, if any, would attend such a meeting, 
under such an invitation ; as to do so would be to make an 
open acknowledgment that they were anxious for the salva- 
tion of their souls, and had made up their minds to attend 
to the subject at once. 

Monday was rather a snowy, cold day. I think I observed 
that conviction was taking hold of the congregation ; yet I 
felt doubtful how many would attend a meeting of inquirers. 
However, when evening came, I went to the meeting. Dr, 
Greer came in, and behold ! the lecture-room, a large one — I 



260 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKNEY. 

think nearly as large as the body of the church above, wag 
full ; and on looking around Dr. Greer observed that most of 
the impenitent persons in his congregation were present ; 
and among them, those who were regarded as the most 
respectable and influential. 

He said nothing publicly. But he said to me, " I know 
nothing about such a meeting as this ; take it into your own 
hands, and manage it in your own way." I opened the 
meeting by a short address, in which I explained to them 
what I wished ; that is to have a few moments' conversation 
with each of them, and to have them state to me frankly 
how they felt on the subject, what their convictions were, 
what their determinations were, what their difficulties were. 
I told them that if they were sick and called a physician, 
he would wish to know their symptoms, and that they 
should tell him how they were, and how they had been. I 
said to them, "I cannot adapt instruction to your present 
state of mind, unless you reveal it to me. The thing, 
therefore, that I want, is that you reveal, in as few words 
as you can, your exact state of mind at the present time. 
I will now pass around among you, and give each of you 
an opportunity to say, in the fewest words, what your state 
of mind is." Dr. Greer said not a word, but followed me 
around, and stood or sat by me and heard all that I had to 
say. He kept near me, for I . spoke to each one in a low 
voice, so as not to be heard by others than those in the 
immediate vicinity. I found a great deal of conviction 
and feeling in the meeting. They were greatly pressed 
with conviction. Conviction had taken hold of all classes, 
(he high and the low, the rich and the poor. 

Dr. Greer was greatly moved. Though he said nothing, 
still it was evident to me that hi3 interest was intense. To 
eee his congregation in such a state as that, was what he 
had never had any conception of. I saw that with diffi- 
culty, at times, he controlled his emotions. 

When I had spent as much time as was allowed me in 



REVIVAL IN READING. 26] 

personal conversation, I then went back to the desk, and 
gaye them an address ; in which, according to my custom, " 
summed up the results of what I had found that was inter 
esting, in the communications that they had made to nr e. 
Avoiding all personalities, I took up the representative cases^ 
and dissected, and corrected, and taught them. I tried to 
strip away their misapprehensions and mistakes, to correct 
the impression that they had, that they must simply use 
means and wait for God to convert them ; and in an address 
of perhaps a half or three-quarters of an hour, I set before 
them the whole situation, as clearly as I possibly could. 
After praying with them I called on those that felt prepared 
to submit, and who were willing then and there to pledge 
themselves to live wholly to God, who were willing to com- 
mit themselves to the sovereign mercy of God in Christ 
Jesus, who were willing to give up all sin, and to renounce 
it forever, to kneel down, and while I prayed, to commit 
themselves to Christ, and inwardly to do what I exhorted 
them to do. I called on those only to kneel down, who were 
willing to do what God required of them, and what I pre- 
sented before them. Dr. Greer looked very much surprised 
at the test I put, and the manner in which I pressed them 
to instant submission. 

As soon as I saw that they thoroughly understood me, J 
called on them to kneel, and knelt myself. Dr. Greei 
knelt by my side, but said nothing. I presented the case 
in prayer to God, and held right to the point of now sub 
mitting, believing, and consecrating themselves to God. 
There was an awful solemnity pervading the congregation, 
and the stillness of death, with the exception of my own 
yoice in prayer, and the sobs, and sighs, and weeping that 
were heard more or less throughout the congregation. 

After spreading the case before God we rose from out 
knees, and without saying anything farther I pronounced 
the blessing and dismissed them. Dr. Greer took me cor- 
dially by the hand, and smiling said, " I will see you in the 



262 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G, FIWNEY. 

morning." He went his way, and I went to my lodgings. 
At about eleven o'clock, I should judge, a messenger came 
running oyer to my lodgings, and called me, and said that 
Dr. Greer was dead. I inquired what it meant. He said 
he had just retired, and was taken with a fit of apoplexy, and 
died immediately. He was greatly respected and beloved 
by his people, and I am persuaded he deserved to be. He 
was a man of thorough education, and I trust of earnest 
piety. But his theological education had not at all fitted 
him for the work of the ministry, that is to win souls to 
Christ. He was beside rather a timid man. He did not 
like to face his people, and resist the encroachments of sin 
as he needed to do. His sudden death was a great shock, 
and became the subject of constant conversation throughout 
the town. 

Although I found a goodly number had, to all human 
appearance, submitted at the meeting on Monday evening, 
still the death of Dr. Greer, under such extraordinary cir- 
cumstances, proved a great diversion of the public mind for 
a week or more. But after his funeral was over, and the 
usual evening services got into their proper channel, the 
work took on a powerful. type, and went forward in a mosi 
encouraging manner. 

Many very interesting incidents occurred in this revival. 
I recollect on one very snowy night, when the snow had 
already fallen deep, and was drifting in a terrible manner 
under a fierce gale of wind, I was called up about midnight, 
to go and visit a man who, they informed me, was under 
such awful conviction that he could not live, unless some- 
thing could be done for him. The man's name was B , 

He was a stalwart man, very muscular, a man of great force 
of will and strength of nerve, physically a fine specimen of 
humanity. His wife was a professor of religion ; but he had 
" cared for none of these things." 

He had been at the meeting that evening, and the ser- 
mon had torn him to pieces. He went home in a terrible 



BBVIVAL Itf BEADING. 26S 

state of mind, his convictions and distress increasing till it 
overcame his bodily strength ; and his family feared he 
would die. Although it was in the midst of such a terrific 
storm, they dispatched a messenger for me. We had to face 
the storm, and walked perhaps fifty or sixty rods. I heard 
nis moanings, or rather howlings, before I got near the house. 
When 1 entered I found him sitting on the floor, his wife, I 
believe, supporting his head — and what a look in his face ! 
It was indescribable. Accustomed as I was to seeing 
persons under great convictions, I must confess that his 
appearance gave me a tremendous shock. He was writhing 
in agony, grinding his teeth, and literally gnawing his 
tongue for pain. He cried out to me, " 0, Mr. Finney ! I 
am lost ! I am a lost soul ! " I was greatly shocked and ex- 
claimed, " If this is conviction, what is hell ?" However, 
I recovered myself as soon as I could, and sat down by his 
side. At first he found it difficult to attend ; but I soon 
led his thoughts to the way of salvation through Christ. 
I pressed the Saviour upon his attention and upon his 
acceptance. His burden was soon removed. He was per- 
suaded to trust the Saviour, and he came out free and joy- 
ful in hope. 

Of course, from day to day, I had my hands, my head, 
and my heart entirely full. There was no pastor i o help me, 
and the work spread on every hand. The elder of the 
church to whom I have alluded as being one of the mana- 
gers of their stated balls, soon broke down his heart before 
the Lord, and entered into the work ; and, as a consequence, 
his family were soon converted. The revival made » 
thorough sweep in the families of those members of the 
ohurch that entered into the work. 

I said that in this place a circumstance occurred, that 
illustrated the influence of that old school teaching of which 
I have complained. Very early one morning a lawyer, 
belonging to one of the most respectable families in the 
town, called at my room, in the greatest agitation of mind. 



264 MEMOIES OE CHAKLES G. FINKEY. 

I saw lie was a man of first-rate intelligence, and a gentle 
man ; but I had nowhere seen him, to know him. He came 
in and introduced himself, and said he was a lost sinner — 
that he had made up his mind that there was no hope for 
him. He then informed me that when he was in Princeton 
College, he and two of his classmates became very anxious 
about their souls. They went together to Dr. Ashbel Green, 
who was then president of the college, and asked him what 
they should do to be saved. He said the doctor told them 
he was very glad to have them come and make the inquiry ; 
and then told them to keep out of all bad company, to read 
their Bible statedly, and to pray God to give them a new 
heart. "Continue this," he said, "and press forward in 
duty ; and the Spirit of God will convert you ; or else he 
will leave you, and you will return back to your sins again." 
"Well," I inquired, "how did it terminate ?" "0," said 
he, " we did just as he told us to do. We kept out of bad 
company, and prayed that God would make us a new heart. 
But after a little w r hile our convictions wore away, and we 
did not care to pray any longer. We lost all interest in the 
subject;" and then bursting into tears he said, "My two 
companions are in drunkards' graves, and if I cannot repent 
I shall soon be in one myself." This remark led me to ob- 
serve that he had indications of being a man that made too 
free use of ardent spirits. However, this was early in the 
morning ; and he was entirely free from drink, and in ter- 
rible anxiety about his soul. 

I tried to instruct him, and to show him the error that 
he had fallen into, under such instructions as he had received, 
and that he had resisted and grieved the Spirit, by waiting 
for God to do what he had commanded him to do. I tried 
to show him that, in the very nature of the case, God could not 
do for him what he required him to do. God required him 
to repent, and God could not repent for him ; required him 
to believe, but God could not believe for him ; God required 
him to submit, but could not submit for him. I then tried 



REVIVAL AT READING. 265 

to make liim understand the agency that the Spirit of God 
has in giving the sinner repentance and a new heart ; that it 
is a divine persuasion ; that the Spirit leads him to see his 
sins, urges him to give them up, and to flee from the wrath 
to come. He presents to him the Saviour, the atonement, 
the plan of salvation, and urges him to accept it. 

1 asked him if he did not feel this urgency upon himself, 
lfl these truths revealed in his own mind ; and a call, now to 
submit, to believe, to make himself a new heart. " yes ! " 
he said, ' ' yes ! I see and feel all this. But am I not given 
up of God ? Is not my day of grace past ?" I said to him, 
" No ! It is plain the Spirit of God is still calling you, still 
urging you to repentance ; you acknowledge that you feel 
this urgency in your own mind." He inquired, "Is this, 
then, what the Spirit of God is doing, to show me all this ? " 
I assured him that it was ; and that he was to understand 
this as a divine call, and as evidence conclusive that he was 
not abandoned, and had not sinned away the day of grace, 
but that God was striving to save him still. I then asked 
him if he would respond to the call, if he would come to 
Jesus, if he would lay hold upon eternal life then and there. 

He was an intelligent man, and the Spirit of God was 
upon and teaching him, and making him understand every 
word that I said. When I saw that the way was fully pre- 
pared, I called on him to kneel down and submit ; and he 
did so, and to all human appearance, became a thorough 
convert right upon the spot. " Oh ! " he afterwards said, 
" if Dr. Green had only told us this that you have told me, 
we should all have been converted immediately. But my 
friends and companions are lost; and what a wonder of 
mercy it is that I am saved !" 

I recollect a very interesting incident in the case of a 
merchant in Reading, one branch of whose business was the 
making of whiskey. He had just been fitting up a Yery 
large distillery at a good deal of expense. He had con- 
structed it with all the latest improvements, on a large 
12 



266 MEMOIES OF CHABLES 6. PISTtfBY. 

scale, and was going deeply into the business. But as soon 
as he was converted, he gave up all thought of going anv 
farther with that business. It was a spontaneous conclusion 
of his own mind. He said at once, " I shall have nothing 
to do with that. I shall tear my distillery down. I will 
neither work it, nor sell it to be worked." 

His wife was a good woman, and a sister to Mr. B , 

whose conversion I havo mentioned as occurring on that 

stormy night. The merchant's name was O'B . The 

revival took a powerful hold in his family, and several of them 
were converted. I do not recollect now how many there 
were ; but I think every impenitent person in his household 
was converted. His brother also, and his brother's wife, 
and, I know not how many, but quite a large circle of rela- 
tives were among the converts. But Mr. O'B himself 

was in feeble health, and was rapidly passing away with the 
consumption. I visited him frequently, and found him full 
of joy. 

We had been examining candidates for admission to the 
church, and a large number were to be admitted on a 
certain Sabbath. Among them were those members of his 
own family, and those relatives of his that had been 
converted. Sabbath morning came. It was soon found 

Mr. O'B could not live through the day. He called 

his wife to his bed-side and said to her, " My dear, I am 
going to spend the Sabbath in heaven. Let all the family 
go, and all the friends, and unite with the church below ; 
and I will join the church above." Before meeting time he 
was dead. Friends were called in to lay him in his shroud ; 
his family and relatives gathered around his corpse, and 
bhen turned away and came to meeting ; and, as he had 
desired, united with the church militant, while he went to 
unite with the church triumphant. 

Their pastor had but just gone before ; and I think it 

was that morning, I had said to Mr. O'B , "Give my 

love to brother Greer, when you get to heaven." He smiled 



REVIVAL AT BEADING, 267 

with holy joy and said to me, "Do you think I shall know 
him ?" I said, "Yes, undoubtedly you will know him. 
Give him my love, and tell him the work is going on glori- 
ously." " I will, I will," said he. His wife and family sat 
at the communion table, showing in their countenance 
mingled joy and sorrow. There was a kind of holy triumph 
manifested, as their attention was called to the fact that the 
husband, and father, and brother, and friend, was sitting 
that day at the table of Jesus on high, while they were 
gathered around his table on earth. 

There was much that was moving and interesting in that 
revival, in a great many respects. It was among a popula- 
tion that had had no conception of revivals of religion. 
The German population supposed themselves to have been 
made Christians by baptism, and especially by receiving the 
communion. Nearly every one of them, if asked when 
they became Christians, would reply that they took their 

communion at such a time of Dr. M , or some other 

German divine. And when I asked them if they thought 
that was religion, they would say, yes, they supposed it was. 
Indeed that was the idea of Dr. M himself. In walk- 
ing with him to the grave of Dr. Greer, on the occasion of 
his funeral, he told me he had made sixteen hundred Chris- 
tians by baptism, and giving them the communion, since he 
had been pastor of that church. He seemed himself to have 
ao other idea of becoming a Christian than simply to learn 
die catechism, and to be baptized and partake of the com- 
snunion. 

The revival had to encounter that view of things ; and 
,he influence was at first, almost altogether in that direction. 
It was held, as I was informed, and I have no doubt of it, 
that for them to begin to think of being religious, by being 
converted, and to establish family prayer, or to give them- 
selves to secret prayer, was not only fanaticism, but was vir- 
tually saying that their ancestors had all gone to hell ; for 
they had done no such thing. The German ministers would 



268 MEMOIBS OF CHAELES G. FlitfNEY. 

preach against all those things, as I was informed by those 
that heard them, and speak severely of those that forsook 
the ways of their fathers, and thought it necessary to be con- 
certed, and to maintain family and secret prayer. 

The great majority, I think, of Dr. Greer's congregation 
were converted in this revival. At first I had considerable 
difficulty in getting rid of the influence of the daily press. 
I think there were two or more daily newspapers published 
there at the time. I learned that the editors were drinking 
men; and were not infrequently carried home, on public 
occasions, in a state of intoxication. The people were a 
good deal under the influence of the daily press. I mean 
the German population particularly. These editors began to 
give the people religious advice, and to speak against the 
revival, arid the preaching. This threw the people into a 
state of perplexity. It went on from day to day, and from 
week to week, till finally the state of things became such 
that I thought it my duty to notice it. I therefore went 
into the pulpit when the house was crowded, and took for 
my text : " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of 
your father ye will do." I then went on to show in what 
way sinners would fulfil the desires of the devil, pointing 
out a great many ways in which they would perform his dirty 
work, and do for him what he could not do for himself. 

After I had got the subject well before the people, 1 
applied it to the course pursued by the editors of those daily 
papers. I asked the people if they did not think that those 
editors were fulfilling the desires of the devil ; if they did 
not believe the devil desired them to do just what they did ? 
then asked them if it was suitable and decent, for men of 
their character, to attempt to give religious instruction to 
the people ? I told the people what I understood their 
character to be, and turned my hand upon them pretty 
heavily, that such men should attempt to instruct the people, 
in regard to their duties to God and their neighbors. I 
said, " If I had a family in the place I would not have such 



EEVIYAL AT BEADIKG. $68 

a paper in the house ; I should fear to have it under my 
roof ; I should consider it too filthy to be touched with my 
fingers, and would take the tongs and throw it into the 
street." In some way the papers got into the street the 
next morning, pretty plentifully, and I neither saw nor 
heard any more of- their opposition. 

I continued in Eeading until late in the spring. There 
were many very striking conversions ; and so far as I know, 
Dr. Greer's congregation was left entirely united, greatly 
encouraged and strengthened, and with large additions 
made to their number. I have never been in that place 
since. 

From Eeading I went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at 
that time and until his death, the home of the late President 
Buchanan. The Presbyterian church at Lancaster had no 
pastor, and I found religion in a very low state. They had 
never had a revival of religion, and manifestly had no just 
conception of what it was, or of the appropriate means of 
securing it. I remained at Lancaster but a very short time. 
However the work of God was immediately revived, the 
Spirit of God being poured out almost at once upon the 
people. I was the guest of an aged gentleman by the name 
of K , who was one of the elders of the church, and in- 
deed the leading man in the church. 

A fact occurred in relation to him, while I was in his 
family, that revealed the real state of things in a religious 
point of view, in that church. A former pastor of the 

church had invited Mr. K to join the church and hold 

the office of elder. I should say that the facts I am about 
to communicate respecting this event, were related to me 
by himself. One Sabbath evening after hearing a couple of 
very searching sermons, the old gentleman could not sleep. 
He was so greatly exercised in his mind, that he could not 
endure it until morning. He called me up in the middle 
of the night, stated what his convictions were, and then said 
that he knew he ha^. never been converted. He said that 



270 MEMOIKS OE CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

when he was requested to join the church and become an 
elder, he knew that he was not a converted man. But the 
subject was pressed upon him till he finally consulted Eev. 

Dr. C , an aged minister of a Presbyterian church nol 

far from Lancaster. He stated to him the fact that he had 
never been converted, and yet that he was desired to join 

the church that he might become an elder. Dr. C , iE 

view of all the circumstances, advised him to join and 
accept the office, which he did. 

His convictions at the time I speak of, were very deep. I 
gave him such instructions as I thought he needed, pressed 
him to accept the Saviour ; and dealt with him just as I 
would with any other inquiring sinner. It was a very sol- 
emn time. He professed at the time to submit and accept 
the Saviour. Of his subsequent history I know nothing. 
He was certainly a gentleman of high character, and never 
to my knowledge did anything outwardly, to disgrace the 
position which he held. Those who are acquainted with the 

state of the church of which Dr. C was pastor, in regard 

to the eldership at that time, will not wonder at the advice 
which he gave to Mr. K . 

Among the incidents that occurred, during my short stay 
at Lancaster, I recall the following. One evening I preached 
on a subject that led me to insist upon the immediate ac- 
ceptance of Christ. The house was very much crowded, 
literally packed. At the close of my sermon I made a strong 
appeal to the people to decide at once ; and I think I called 
on those whose minds were made up, and who would then 
accept the Saviour, to rise up, that we might know who they 
were, and that we might make them subjects of prayer. As 
I learned the next day, there were two men sitting near one 
of the doors of the church, one of whom was very much 
affected under the appeal that was made, and could not 
avoid manifesting very strong emotion, which was observed 
by his neighbor. However, the man did not rise up, nor 
give his heart to God. I had pressed the thought upon 



BEVITAL AT READlKfc. t1\ 

iliem, tliat that might be the last opportunity that some of 
them would ever have, to meet and decide this question ; that 
in so large a congregation it was not unlikely that there were 
those there who would then decide their everlasting destiny, 
one way or the other. It was not unlikely that God would 
hold some of them to the decision that they then made. 

After the meeting was dismissed, as I learned the next 
day, these two men went out together, and one said to 
the other, "I saw you felt very deeply under the appeals 
Mr. Finney made." "I did," he replied. "I never felt 
so before in my life ; and especially when he reminded us 
that that might be the last time we should ever have an 
opportunity to accept the offer of mercy." They went 
on conversing in this way, for some distance, and then 
separated, each one going to his own home. It was a dark 
night, and the one who had felt so deeply, and was so 
pressed with the conviction that he might then be rejecting 
his last offer, fell over the curbstone, and broke his neck. 
This was reported to me the next day. 

I established prayer-.meetings in Lancaster, and insisted 
upon the elders of the church taking part in them. This 
they did at my earnest request, although, as I learned, the} 
had never been accustomed to do it before. The interest 
Beemed to increase from day to day, and hopeful conversions 
multiplied. I do not recollect now why I did not remair. 
longer than I did ; but I left at so early a period as not to 
be able to give anything like a detailed account of the work 
there. 



CHAPTER XX. 

EEVIYALS IN COLUMBIA AND NEW YORK OITY. 

FROM Lancaster, about mid-summer, 1830, I returned 
to Oneida county, New York, and spent a short time 
at my father-in-law's. I think it was at that time, during 
my stay in "Whitest own, that a circumstance occurred of 
great interest, and which I will relate. A messenger came 
from the town of Columbia, in Herkimer county, requesting 
me to go down and assist in a work of grace there, which was 
already commenced. Such representations were made to me 
as induced me to go. However, I did not expect to remain 
there, as I had other more pressing calls for labor. I went 
down, however, to see, and to lend such aid as I was able, 
for a short time. 

At Columbia was a large German church, the member- 
ship of which had been received, according to their custom, 
upon examination of their doctrinal knowledge, instead of 
their Christian experience. Consequently the church had 
been composed mostly, as I was informed, of unconverted 
persons. Both the church and congregation were large. 

Their pastor was a young man by the name of H . He 

was of German descent, and from Pennsylvania. 

He gave me the following account of himself, and of the 
state of things in Columbia. He said he studied theology 
with a German doctor of divinity, at the place where he 
lived, who did not encourage experimental religion at all. 
He said that one of his fellow-students was religiously 
inclined, and used to pray in his closet. Their teacher sus- 
pected this, and in some way came to a knowledge of the 
fact. He warned the vou r; man against it, as a very dan 



REVIVAL IX COLUMBIA. 273 

gerous practice, and said he would become insane if he 
persisted in it, and lie should be blamed himself for 

allowing a student to take such a course. Mr. H said 

that he himself had no religion. He had joined the church 
iu the common way, and had no thought that anything else 
was requisite, so far as piety was concerned, to become a 
minister. But his mother was a pious woman. She knew 
better, and was greatly distressed that a son of hers should 
enter the sacred ministry, who had never been converted. 
When he had received a call to the church in Columbia, and 
was about to leave home, his mother had a very serious talk 
with him, impressed upon him the fact of his responsibility, 
and said some things that bore powerfully upon his con- 
science. He said that this conversation of his mother he could 
not get rid of ; that it bore upon his mind heavily, and his 
convictions of sin deepened until he was nearly in despair. 

This continued for many months. He had no one to 
consult, and did not open his mind to anybody. But after 
a severe and protracted struggle he was converted, came into 
the light, saw where he was, and where he had been, and 
saw the condition of his church, and of all those churches 
which had admitted their members in the way in which 
he had been admitted. His wife was unconverted. He 
immediately gave himself to labor for her conversion, and, 
under God, he soon secured it. His soul was full of the 
subject ; and he read his Bible, and prayed and preached 
with all his might. But he was a young convert, and had 
had no instruction such as he needed, and he felt at a loss 
what to do. He rode about the town, and conversed with 
the elders of the church, and with the principal members, 
and satisfied himself that one or two of his leading elders, 
and several of his female members, knew what it was to be 
converted. 

After much prayer and consideration, he made up hia 
mind what to do. On the Sabbath he gave them notice that 
there would be a meeting of the church, on a certain day 
12* 



274 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

during the week, for the transaction of business, and wished 
all the church, especially, to be present. His own conversion; 
and preaching, and visiting, and conversing around the town 
had already created a good deal of excitement, so that reli- 
gion came to be the common topic of conversation ; and hia 
call for a church-meeting was responded to, so that, on the 
lay appointed, the church were nearly all present. 

He then addressed them in regard to the real state of 
the church, and the error they had fallen into in regard to 
the conditions on which members had been received. He 
made a speech to them, partly in German, and partly in Eng- 
lish, so as to have all classes understand as far as he could ; 
and after talking until they were a good deal mo?ed, he 
proposed to disband the church and form a new one, insist- 
ing upon it that this was essential to the prosperity of 
religion. He had an understanding with those members of 
the church that he was satisfied were truly converted, that 
they should lead in voting for the disbanding of the church. 
The motion was put ; whereupon the converted members 
arose as requested. They were very influential members, 
and the people looking around and seeing these on their feet, 
rose up, and finally they kept rising till the vote was nearly 
or quite unanimous. The pastor then said, " There is now 
no church in Columbia ; and we propose to form one of 
Christians, of people who have been converted." 

He then, before the congregation, related his own experi- 
ence, and called on his wife, and she did the same. Then 
the converted elders and members followed, one after 
another, as long as any could come forward, and relate a 
Christian experience. These, they proceeded to form into a 
church. He then said to the others, " Your church rela- 
tions are dissolved. You are out in the world ; and until you 
are converted, and in ,he church, you cannot have your 
children baptized, and you cannot partake of the ordinances 
of the church." This created a great panic ; for according to 
their views, it was an awful thing not to partake of the 



fcEVIVAL m NEW YORK CITY. 276 

sacrament, and not to have their children baptized ; for this 
was the way in which they themselves had been made 
Christians. 

Mr. H then labored with all his might. He visited, 

and preached, and prayed, and held meetings, and the inter- 
est increased. Thus the work had been going on for some- 
time, when he heard that I was in Oneida connty, and sent 
the messenger for me. I found him a warm-hearted young 
convert. He listened to my preaching with almost irrepress- 
ible joy. I found the congregation large and interested ; 
and so far as I could judge, the work was in a very prosper- 
ous, healthful state. That revival continued to spread until 
it reached and converted nearly all the inhabitants of the 
town. Galesburg, in Illinois, was settled by a colony from 
Columbia, who were nearly all converts, I believe, of the 
revival. The founder of the colony and of Knox College, 
located there, was Mr. Gale, my former pastor at Adams. 

I have told facts, as I remember them, as related to me 

oy Mr. H . I found his views evangelical, and his heart 

warm ; and he was surrounded by a congregation as thor- 
oughly interested in religion as could well be desired. They 
would hang on my lips, as I held forth to them the Gospel 
of Christ, with an interest, an attention, and a patience, 
that was in the highest degree interesting and affecting. 

Mr. H himself, was like a little child — teachable, and 

humble, and earnest. That work continued for over a year, 
%s I understood, spreading throughout that large and inter- 
esting population of farmers. 

After I returned to Whitestown, I was invited to visit 
the city of New York. Anson G. Phelps, since well-known 
as a great contributor, by will, to the leading benevolent 
institutions of our country, hearing that I had not been 
invited to the pulpits of that city, hired a vacant church in 
Vandewater street, and sent me an urgent request to come 
there and preach. I did so, and there we had a powerful 
revival. I found Mr. Phelps very much engaged in the work, 



210 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKNEY. 

and not hesitating at any expense that was necessary to pro- 
mote it. The church which he hired, could be had only for 
three months. Accordingly Mr. Phelps, before the three 
months were out, purchased a church in Prince street, near 
Broadway. This church had been built by the TTnivcrsalists, 
and was sold to Mr. Phelps, who bought and paid for it him- 
aeif. From Vandewater street, we went therefore, to Prince 
street, and there formed a church, mostly of persons that 
had been converted during our meetings in Vandewater 
street. I continued my labors in Prince street for some 
months, I think until quite the latter part of summer. 

I was very much struck, during my labors 'there, with 
the piety of Mr. Phelps. While we continued at Vande- 
water street, myself and wife, with our only child, were 
guests in his family. I had observed that, while Mr. Phelps 
was a man literally loaded with business, somehow he pre- 
served a highly spiritual frame of mind ; and that he would 
come directly from his business to our prayer-meetings, and 
enter into them with such spirit, as to show clearly that his 
mind was not absorbed in business, to the exclusion of spirit- 
ual things. As I watched him from day to day, I became 
more and more interested in his interior life, as it was mani- 
fested in his outward life. One night I had occasion to go 
down stairs, I should think about twelve or one o'clock at 
night, to get something for our little child. I supposed the 
family were all asleep, but to my surprise I found Mr. 
Phelps sitting by his fire, in his night-dress, and saw that I 
had broken in upon his secret devotions. I apologized by 
saying that I supposed he was in bed. He replied, 
" Brother Finney, I have a great deal of business pressing 
me during the day, and have but little time for secret devo- 
tion ; and my custom is, after having si nap at night, to 
arise and have a season of communion with God." After 
his death, which occurred not many years ago, it was found 
that he had kept a journal during these hours in the night, 
comprising several manuscript volumes. This journal 



REVIVAL IS" NEW YORK CITY. 277 

revealed the secret workings of his mind, and the real 
progress of his interior life. 

I never knew the number converted while I was in Prince 
and Yandewater streets ; but it must have been large. 
There was one case of conversion that I must not omit to 
mention. A young woman visited me one day, under great 
conviction of sin. On conversing with her, I found that she 
had many things upon her conscience. She had been in the 
habit of pilfering, as she told me, from her very childhood. 
She was the daughter, and the only child, I think, of a 
widow lady ; and she had been in the habit of taking from 
her schoolmates and others, handkerchiefs, and breastpins, 
and pencils, and whatever she had an opportunity to steal. 
She made confession respecting some of these things to me, 
arid asked me what she should do about it. I told her she 
must go and return them, and make confession to those from 
whom she had taken them. 

This of course greatly tried her ; yet her convictions were 
so deep that she dare not keep them, and she began the work 
of making confession and restitution. But as she went for- 
ward with it, she continued to recall more and more in- 
stances of the kind, and kept visiting me frequently, and 
confessing to me her thefts of almost every kind of articles 
that a young woman could use. I asked her if her mother 
knew that she had these things. She said, yes ; but that 
she had always told her mother that they were given her. 
She said to me on one occasion, "Mr. Finney, I suppose I 
have stolen a million of times. I find I have manv things 
that I know I stole, but I cannot recollect from whom/'' I 
refused altogether to compromise with her, and insisted on 
her making restitution in every case, in which she could, by 
any means, recall the facts. From time to time she would 
come to me, and report what she had done. I asked her, what 
the people said when she returned the articles. She replied, 
" Some of them say that I am crazy ; some of them say 
that I am a fool ; and some of them are very much affected.* 



278 MEMOIES OP CItAKLES G. FLNHEI. 

" Do they all forgive you ? " I asked. " yofa / w said 
she, "they all forgive me ; but some of them think that I 
had better not do as I am doing." 

One day she informed me that she had a shawl which she 
had stolen from a daughter of Bishop Hobart, then bishop 
of New York, whose residence was on St. John's square, and 
near St. John's church. As usual, I told her she must re- 
store it. A few days after, she called and related to me the 
result. She said she folded up the shawl in a paper, and 
went with it, and rung the bell at the Bishop's door ; and 
when the servant came, she handed him the bundle directed 
to the Bishop. She made no explanation, but turned im- 
mediately away, and ran around the corner into anothei 
street, lest some one should look out and see which way she 
went, and find out who she was. But after she got around 
the corner, her conscience smote her, and she said to herself, 
" I have not done this thing right. Somebody else may be 
suspected of having stolen the shawl, unless I make known 
to the Bishop who did it." 

She turned around, went immediately back, and inquired 
if she could see the Bishop. Being informed that she could, 
she was conducted to his study. She then confessed to him, 
told him about the shawl, and all that had passed. 
" Well," said I, " and how did the Bishop receive you ? " 
" Oh," said she, " when I told him, he wept, laid his hand 
on my head, and said he forgave me, and prayed God 
to forgive me." "And have you been at peace in your 
mind," said I, "about that transaction since ?" "0 yes ! " 
said she. This process continued for weeks, and I think 
for months. This girl was going from place to place in all 
parts of the city, restoring things that she had stolen, and 
making confession, Sometimes her conyictions would be so 
awful, that it seemed as if she would be deranged. 

One morning she sent for me to come to her mothers 
residence. I did so, and when I arrived I was introduced to 
ber room, and found her with her hair hanging over hei 



REVIVAL Ltf NEW TOEK CITY. 279 

sho jlders, i*ud her clothes in disorder, walking the room in 
an agony of despair, and with a look that was frightful, be 
sause it indicated that she was well nigh deranged. Said I, 
" My dear child, what is the matter ? " She held in her 
hand, as she was walking, a little Testament. She turned 
to me and said, "Mr. Finney, I stole this Testament. 1 
have stolen God's word ; and will God ever forgive me ? 
I cannot recollect which of the girls it was that I stole it 
from. I stole it from one of my schoolmates, and it was so 
{ong ago that I had really forgotten that I had stolen it. It 
occurred to me this morning ; and it seems to me that God 
can never forgive me for stealing his word. " I assured her 
that there was no reason for her despair. " But," said she, 
"what shall I do ? I cannot remember where I got it." I 
told her, " Keep it as a constant remembrance of your for- 
mer sins, and use it for the good you may now get from it." 

"Oh," said she, "if I could only remember where I got 
it, I w T ould instantly restore it." "Well," said I, "if you 
can ever recollect where you got it, make an instant restitu- 
tion, either by restoring that, or giving another as good." 
"I will," said she. 

All this process was exceedingly affecting to me ; but as 
it proceeded, the state of mind that resulted from these 
transactions was truly wonderful. A depth of humility, a 
deep knowledge of herself and her own depravity, a broken- 
ness of heart, and contrition of spirit, and finally, a faith, 
and joy, and love, and peace, like a river, succeeded ; and 
she became one of the most delightful young Christians that 
I have known. 

When the time drew near that I expected to leave New 
York, I thought that some one in the church ought to be 
acquainted with her, who could watch over her. Up to this 
time, whatever had passed between us had been a secret, 
sacredly kept to myself. But as I was about to leave, I 
narrated the fact to Mr. Phelps, and the narration affected 
him greatly. He said, "Brother Finney, introduce me to 



280 J1EMOIES OF CHARIJES G. FIHtfEY. 

her. I will be her friend ; I will watch over her for hex 
good." He did so, as I afterwards learned. I have not 
seen the young woman for many years, and I think not 
since I related the fact to Mr. Phelps. But when I returned 
from England the last time, in visiting one of Mr. Phelps* 
daughters, in the course of the conversation, this case was 
alluded to. I then inquired, " Did your father introduce 
you to that young woman ? " "0 yes ! " she replied, " we 
all knew her ; " meaning, as I supposed, all the daughters 
of the family. "Well, what do you know of her ?" said I. 
" 0," said she, " she is a very earnest Christian woman. She 
is married, and her husband is in business in this city. She 
is a member of the church, and lives in street," point- 
ing to the place, not far from where we then were. I 
inquired, ' ' Has she always maintained a consistent Chris- 
tian character?" "0 yes!" was the reply; "she is an 
excellent, praying woman." In some way, I have been in- 
formed, and I cannot recollect now the source of the infor- 
mation, that the woman said that she never had had a temp- 
tation to pilfer, from the time of her conversion ; that she 
had never known what it was to have the desire to do so. 

This revival prepared the way, in New York, for th« 
organization of the Free Presbyterian churches in the city. 
Those churches were composed afterward, largely, of the con- 
verts of that revival. Many of them had belonged to the 
church in Prince street. 

At this point of my narrative, in order to render intelli- 
gible many things that I shall have to say hereafter, I must 
give a little account of the circumstances connected with the 
oonversion of Mr. Lewis Tappan, and his connection after- 
ward with my own labors. This account I received from 
himself. His conversion occurred before I was personally 
acquainted with him, under the following circumstances : 
He was a Unitarian, and lived in Boston. His brother 
Arthur, then a very extensive dry-goods merchant in New 
York, was orthodox, and an earnest Christian man. The 



REVIVAL IK KEW YORK CITY. 281 

revivals through central New York had created a good deal 
of excitement among the Unitarians ; and their newspapers 
had a good deal to say against them. Especially were there 
strange stories in circulation about myself, representing me 
as a half-crazed fanatic. These stories had been related to 

Lewis Tappan by Mr. W , a leading Unitarian minister 

of Boston, and he believed them. They were credited by 
many of the Unitarians in New England, and throughout 
the State of New York. 

"While these stories were in circulation, Lewis Tappan 
visited his brother Arthur in New York, and they fell into 
conversation in regard to those revivals. Lewis called 
Arthur's attention to the strange fanaticism connected with 
these revivals, especially to what was said of myself. He 
asserted that I gave out publicly, that I was " the brigadier 
general of Jesus Christ." This, and like reports were in 
circulation, and Lewis insisted upon their truth. Arthur 
utterly discredited them, and told Lewis that they were all 
nonsense and false, and that he ought not to believe any of 

them. Lewis, relying upon the statements of Mr. W -, 

proposed to bet five hundred dollars that he could prove 
these reports to be true ; especially the one already referred 
to. Arthur replied, " Lewis, you know that I do not bet ; 
but I will tell you what I will do. If you can prove by cred- 
ible testimony, that that is true, and that the reports about 
Mr. Finney are true, I will give you five hundred dollars. I 
make this offer to lead you to investigate. I want you to 
know that these stories are false, and that the source whence 
they come is utterly unreliable." Lewis, not doubting that 
he could bring the proof, inasmuch as these things had been 
so confidently asserted by the Unitarians, wrote to Eev. 

Mr. P , Unitarian minister at Trentoa Falls, New York, 

to whom Mr. W had referred him, and authorized him 

to expend five hundred dollars, if need be, in procuring suf- 
ficient testimony that the story was true ; such testimony as 
would lead to the conviction of a party in a court of justice. 



282 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

Mr. P , accordingly, undertook to procure the testimony 

but after great pains-taking, was unable to furnish any, 
except what was contained in a small Universalist news- 
paper, printed in Buffalo, in which it had been asserted that 
Mr. Finney claimed that he was a brigadier general of Jesus 
Christ. Nowhere could he get the least proof that the 
report was true. Many persons had heard, and believed, 
that I had said these things somewhere ; but as he followed 
up the reports from town to town, by his correspondence, he 
could not learn that these things had been said, anywhere. 

This in connection with other matters, he said, led him to 
reflect seriously upon the nature of the opposition, and upon 
the source whence it had come. Knowing as he did what 
stress had been laid upon these stories by the Unitarians, 
and the use they had made of them to oppose the revivals in 
New York and other places, his confidence in them was 
greatly shaken. Thus his prejudices against the revivals 
and orthodox people became softened. He was led to review 
the theological writings of the Orthodox and the Unitarians 
with great seriousness, and the result was that he embraced 
orthodox views. The mother of the Tappans was a very 
godly, praying woman. She had never had any sympathy 
with Unitarianism. She had lived a very praying lile, and 
had left a strong impression upon her children. 

As soon as Lewis Tappan was converted, he became as 
firm and zealous in his support of orthodox views and re- 
vivals of religion, as he had been in his opposition to them. 
AJbout the time that I left New York, after my first labors 
there in Vandewater and Prince streets, Mr. Tappan and 
some other good brethren, became dissatisfied with the state 
of things in New York, and after much prayer and consid- 
eration, concluded to organize a new congregation, and in- 
troduce new measures for the conversion of men. They 
obtained a place to hold worship, and called the Rev. Joel 
Parker, who was then pastor of the Third Presbyterian 
church in Rochester, to come to their aid. Mr. Parker 



BEVIYAL IN NEW YOBK CITY. 283 

arrived in New York, and began his labors, I think about 
the time that I closed my labors in Prince street. The First 
Free Presbyterian church was formed in New York, about 
this time, and Mr. Parker became its pastor. They labored 
especially among that class of the population that had not 
been in the habit of attending meeting anywhere, and were 
very successful. They finally fitted up the upper story of 
some warehouses in Dey street, that would hold a good con- 
gregation, and there they continued their labors. 



CHAPTER XXL 

REVIVAL IN ROCHESTER, 1830. 

LEAVING New York I spent a few weeks in Whites- 
town ; and, as was common, being pressed to go in 
many directions, I was greatly at a loss what was my duty. 
But among others, an urgent invitation was received from 
the Third Presbyterian church in Rochester, of which Mr. 
Parker had been pastor, to go there and supply them for 
a season. 

I inquired into the circumstances, and found that on 
several accounts it was a very unpromising field of labor 
There were but three Presbyterian churches in Rochester. 
The Third church, that extended the invitation, had no 
minister, and religion was in a low state. The Second 
church, or "the Brick Church," as ifc was called, had a 
pastor, an excellent man ; but in regard to his preaching 
there was considerable division in the church, and he was 
restive and about to leave. There was a controversy exist- 
ing between an elder of the Third church and the pas- 
tor of the First church, that was about to be tried before 
the presbytery. This and other matters had aroused un- 
christian feeling, to some extent, in both churches ; and 
altogether it seemed a forbidding field of labor at that time. 
The friends at Rochester were exceedingly anxious to have 
me go there — I mean the members of the Third church. 
Being left without a pastor, they felt as if there was great 
danger that they would be scattered, and perhaps annihi- 
lated as a church, unless something could be done to revive 
religion among them. 

Tf ith these pressing invitations before me, I felt, as J 



SEYIYAL Iff BOCHESTEB. 285 

have often done, greatly perplexed. I remained at my 
father-in-law's, and considered the subject, until I felt that 
I must take hold and work somewhere. Accordingly we 
packed our trunks and went down to Utica, about seven 
miles distant, where I had many praying friends. We 
arrived there in the afternoon, and in the evening quite 
a number of the leading brethren, in whose prayers and 
wisdom I had a great deal of confidence, at my request met 
for consultation and prayer, in regard to my next field of 
labor. I laid all the facts before them in regard to Roch- 
ester; and so far as I was acquainted with them, the 
leading facts in respect to the other fields to which I wa3 
invited at that time. Rochester seemed to be the least 
inviting of them all. 

After talking the matter all over, and having several 
seasons of prayer, interspersed with conversation, the breth- 
ren gave their opinions one after another, in relation to what 
they thought it wise for me to do. They were unanimous 
in the opinion that Rochester was too uninviting a field of 
labor, to be put at all in competition with New York, or 
Philadelphia, and some other fields to which I was then 
invited. They were firm in the conviction that I should go 
east from Utica, and not west. At the time, this was my 
own impression and conviction ; , and I retired from this meet- 
ing, as I supposed, settled not to go to Rochester, but to New 
York or Philadelphia. This was before railroads existed ; 
and when we parted that evening I expected to take the 
canal boat, which was the most convenient way for a family 
to travel, and start in the morning for New York. 

But after I retired to my lodging the question was pre- 
sented to my mind under a different aspect. Something 
seemed to question me: " What are the reasons that deter 
you from going to Rochester ? " I could readily enumerate 
them, but then the question returned : " Ah ! but are these 
good reasons ? Certainly you are needed at Rochester all 
the more because of these difficulties. Do you shun the 



286 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItfNEY. 

field because there are so many things that need to be cor* 
reeted, because there is so much that is wrong ? But if all 
was right, you would not be needed." I soon came to the 
conclusion that we were all wrong : and that the reasons 
that had determined us against my going to Rochester, were 
the most cogent reasons for my going. I felt ashamed to 
shrink from undertaking the work because of its difficulties ; 
and it was strongly impressed upon me, that the Lord would 
be with me, and that that was my field. My mind became 
entirely decided, before I retired to rest, that Rochester was 
the place to which the Lord would have me go. I informed 
my wife of my decision ; and accordingly, early in the morn- 
ing, before the people were generally moving in the city, the 
packet boat came along, and we embarked and went west 
ward instead of eastward. 

The brethren in Utica were greatly surprised when they 
learned of this change in our destination, and awaited the 
result with a good deal of solicitude. 

We arrived in Rochester early in the morning, and were 
invited to take up our lodgings for the time with Mr. 
Josiah Bissell, who was the leading elder in the Third 
church, and who was the person that had complained to 
the presbytery respecting Dr. Penny. On my arrival I met 

my cousin, Mr. S , in the street, who invited me to his 

house. He was an elder in the First church, and hearing 
that I was expected at Rochester, was very anxious to have 
his pastor, Dr. Penny, meet and converse with me, and be 
prepared to co-operate with me in my labors. I declined 
his kind invitation, informing him that I was to be the guest 
of Mr. Bissell. But he called on me again after breakfast, 
and informed me that he had arranged an interview be- 
tween myself and Dr. Penny, at his house. I hastened to 
meet the doctor, and we had a cheering Christian interview. 
When I commenced my labors, Dr. Penny attended our 

meetings, and soon invited me to his pulpit. Mr. S • 

exerted himself to bring aoout a good understanding be- 



RE VITAL IK ROCHESTER. 287 

cwcen the pastors and churches, and a great change soon 
manifested itself in the attitude and spiritual state of the 
churches. 

There were very soon some very marked conversions* 
The wife of a prominent lawyer in that city was one . I the 
first converts. She was a woman of high standing, a lady 
of culture and extensive influence. Her conversion was a 
\ery marked one. The first that I saw her, a friend of hers 
came with her to my room, and introduced her. The lady 
who introduced her was a Christian woman, who had found 
that she was very much exercised in her mind, and per- 
suaded her to come and see me. 

Mrs. M had been a gay, worldly woman, and very 

fond of society. She afterward told me that when I first- 
came there, she greatly regretted it, ana feared there would 
be a revival ; and a revival would greatly interfere with the 
pleasures and amusements that she had promised herself that 
winter. On conversing with her I found that the Spirit of 
the Lord was indeed dealing with her, in an unsparing man- 
ner. She was bowed down with great conviction of sin. 
After considerable conversation with her, I pressed her ear- 
nestly to renounce sin, and the world, and self, and every- 
thing for Christ. I saw that she was a very proud woman, 
and this struck me as rather the most marked feature of her 
character. At the conclusion of our conversation we knelt 
down to pray ; and my mind being full of the subject of the 
pride of her heart, as it was manifested, I very soon intro- 
duced the text : "Except ye be converted and become as lit- 
tle children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." I turned this subject over in prayer ; and almost 

immediately I heard Mrs. M , as she was kneeling by my 

side, repeating that text: "Except ye be converted and 
become as little children — as little children — Except 
ye be converted and become as little children." I observed 
that her mind was taken with that, and the Spirit of God 
was pressing it upon her heart. I therefore continued to 



§8t> MEMOIRS OP CHAKLE3 G. F12TNEY. 

pray, holding that subject before her mind, and holding her 
up before God as needing that very thing, to be converted — 
to become as a little child. 

I felt that the Lord was answering prayer. I felt sure 
that he was doing the very worlothat I asked him to do. 
Her heart broke down, her sensibility gushed forth, and 
before we rose from our knees, she was indeed .a litMe child. 
When I stopped praying, and opened my eyes and looked at 
her, her face was turned up toward heaven) and the tears 
streaming down ; and she was in the attitude of praying that 
she might be made a little child. She rose up, became 
peaceful, settled into a joyous faith, and retired. From that 
moment she was out-spoken in her religious convictions, and 
zealous for the conversion of her friends. Her conversion, 
of course, produced much excitement among that class of 
people to which she belonged. 

I had never, I believe, except in rare instances, until 1 
went to Rochester, used as a means of promoting revivals, 
what has since been called " the anxious seat." I had some- 
times asked persons in the congregation to stand up ; but 
this I had not frequently done. However, in studying 
upon the subject, I had often felt the necessity of some meas- 
ure that would bring sinners to a stand. From my owd 
experience and observation I had found, that with the 
higher classes especially, the greatest obstacle to be overcome 
was their fear of being known as anxious inquirers. They 
were too proud to take any position that would reveal them 
to others as anxious for their souls. 

I had found also that something was needed, to make 
the impression on them that they were expected at once to 
give up their hearts ; something that would call them to act, 
and act as publicly before the world, as they had in their 
sins ; something that would commit them publicly to the 
service of Christ. When I had called them simply to stand 
up in the public congregation, I found that this had a very 
good effect ; and so far as it went, it answered the purpose for 



&EVIVAL IN ROCHESTER. 289 

which it was intended. But after all, I had felt for some 
time, that something more was necessary to bring them out 
from among the mass of the ungodly, to a public renuncia- 
tion of their sinful ways, and a public committal of them- 
selves to God. 

At Kochester, if I recollect right, I first introduced this 
measure, this was years after the cry had been raised of 
"new measures." A few days after the conversion of Mrs. 

M , I made a call, I think for the first time, upon all 

that class of persons whose convictions were so ripe that 
they were willing to renounce their sins and give themselves 
to God, to come forward to certain seats which I requested 
to be vacated, and offer themselves up to God, while we made 
them subjects of prayer. A much larger number came for- 
ward than I expected, and among them was another promi- 
nent lady ; and several others of her acquaintance, and 
belonging to the same circle of society, came forward. This 
increased the interest among that class of people ; and it 
was soon seen that the Lord was aiming at the conversion of 
the highest classes of society. My meetings soon became 
thronged with that class. The lawyers, physicians, mer- 
chants, and indeed all the most intelligent people, became 
more and more interested, and more and more easily in- 
fluenced. 

Very soon the work took effect, extensively, among the 
lawyers in that city. There has always been a large number 
of the leading lawyers of the state, resident at Rochester. 
The work soon got hold of numbers of these. They be- 
came very anxious, and came freely to our meetings of 
inquiry ; and numbers of them came forward to the anxious 
gcat, as it has since been called, and publicly gave their 
hearts to God. I recollect one evening after preaching, 
three of them followed me to my room, all of them deeply 
convicted ; and all of them had been, I believe, on the anx- 
ious seat, but were not clear in theL- minds, and felt that 
they could not go home until they were convinced their 
13 



290 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FIXOTT. 

peace was made with God. I conversed with them, and 
prayed with them ; and I believe, before they left, they all 
found peace in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I should have said that very soon after the work com- 
menced, the difficulties between Mr. Bissell and Dr. Penny 
were healed ; and all the distractions and collisions that had 
existed there were adjusted ; so that a spirit of universal 
kindness and fellowship pervaded all the churches. 

On one occasion I had an appointment in the First 
church. There had been a military parade in the city that 
day. The militia had been called out, and I had feared that 
the excitement of the parade might divert the attention of 
the people, and mar the work of the Lord. The house was 
filled in every part. Dr. Penny had introduced the services, 
and was engaged in the first prayer, when I heard something 
which I supposed to be the report of a gun, and the jingling 
of glass, as if a window had been broken. My thought was 
that some careless person from the military parade on the 
outside, had fired so near the window as to break a pane of 
glass. But before I had time to think again, Dr. Penny 
leaped from the pulpit almost over me, for I was kneeling 
by the sofa behind him. The pulpit was in the front of the 
church, between the two doors. The rear wall of the church 
stood upon the brink of the canal. The congregation, in a 
moment, fell into a perfect panic, and rushed for the doors 
and the windows, as if they were all distracted. One elderly 
woman held up a window in the rear of the church, where 
several, as. I was informed, leaped out into the canal. The 
rush was terrific. Some jumped over the galleries into the 
aisles below ; they ran over each other in the aisles. 

I stood up m the pulpit, and not knowing what had 
happened, put up my hands, and cried at the top of my 
voice, " Be quiet ! Be quiet ! " Directly a couple of women 
rushing up into the pulpit, one on the one side, and the 
other on the other side, caught hold of me, in a state of 
distraction. Dr. Penny ran out into the streets, and they 



REVIVAL IN ROCHESTER. 291 

were getting out in every direction, as fast as possible. As 
I did not know that there was any danger, the scene looked 
so ludicrous to me, that I could scarcely refrain from laugh- 
ing. They rushed over each other in the aisles, so that in 
several instances I observed men that had been crushed 
down, rising up and throwing off others that had rushed 
apon them. All at length got out. Several were consider- 
ably hurt, but no one killed. But the house was strewn 
with all sorts of women's apparel. Bonnets, shawls, gloves, 
handkerchiefs, and parts of dresses, were scattered in every 
direction. The men had very generally gone out without 
their hats, I believe ; and many persons had been seriously 
bruised in the awful rush. 

I afterwards learned that the walls of the church had 
been settling for some time, the ground being very damp 
from its proximity to the canal. It had been spoken of, in 
the congregation, as not in a satisfactory state ; and some 
were afraid that either the tower would fall, or the roof, or 
the walls of the building would come down. Of this I had 
heard nothing myself. The original alarm was created by a 
timber from the roof, falling end downwards, and breaking 
through the ceiling, above the lamp in front of the organ. 

On examining the house, it was found that the walls had 
spread in such a manner, that there was indeed danger of the 
roof falling in. The pressure that night in the gallery was 
so great as to spread the walls on each side, until there was 
real danger. At the time this occurred, I greatly feared, as 
I suppose others did, that the public attention would be 
diverted, and the work greatly hindered. But the Spirit of 
the Lord had taken hold of the work in earnest, and noth- 
ing seemed to stay it. 

The Brick church was thrown open to us, and from that 
time our meetings alternated between the Second and Third 
churches, the people of the First church and congregation 
attending as far as they could get into the house. The three 
churches, and indeed Christians of every denomination 



292 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FINEST. 

generally, seemed to make common cause, and went to work 
with a will, to pull sinners out of the fire. We were obliged 
to hold meetings almost continually. I preached nearly 
every night, and three times on the Sabbath. We held our 
meetings of inquiry, after the work took on such a powerful 
type, very frequently in the morning. 

One morning I recollect we had been holding a meeting 
of inquiry, and a gentleman was present and was converted 
there, who was the son-in-law of a very praying, godly woman 
belonging to the Third church. She had been very anxious 
about him, and had been spending much time in prayer for 
him. When he returned from the meeting of inquiry, he 
was full of joy and peace and hope. She had been spend- 
ing the time in earnest prayer that God would convert him 
at that meeting. As soon as she met him and he declared 
his conversion to her, and from his countenance she saw that 
it was really so, it overcame her, and she swooned away and 
fell dead. 

There was at that time a high school in Rochester, pre- 
sided over by a Mr. B , the son of A B , then 

pastor of the church at Brighton, near Eochester. Mr. 

B was a sceptic, but was at the head of a very large and 

flourishing school. As the school was made up of both sexes, 

a Miss A was his assistant and associate in the school, at 

that time. Miss A was a Christian woman. The stu- 
dents attended the religious services, and many of them soon 
became deeply anxious about their souls. One morning Mr. 

B found that his classes could not recite. When he 

lame to have them before him, they were so anxious about 

heir souls that they wept, and he saw that they were in such 

a state, that it very much confounded him. He called his 

associate, Miss A , and told her that the young people 

were so exercised about their souls that they could not recite ; 
and asked if they had not better send for Mr. Finney to give 
them instruction. She afterwards informed me of this, and 
said that she was very glad to have him make the inquiry, 



BETITAL IK ROCHESTER. 293 

and most cordially advised Mm to send for me. He did so. 
and the revival took tremendous hold of that school. Mr. 

B himself was soon hopefully converted, and nearly 

every person in the school. A few years since, Miss A 

informed me that more than forty persons, that were then 
converted in that school, had become ministers. That was a 
fact that I had not known before. She named many of 
them to me at the time. A large number of them had be- 
come foreign missionaries. 

After remaining a few weeks at Josiah Bissell's, we took 
lodgings in a more central position, at the house of Mr. 

B , a lawyer of the city, who was a professedly Christian 

man- His wife's sister was with them, and was an impenitent 
girl. She was a young woman of fine appearance, an ex- 
quisite singer, and a cultivated lady ; and, as we soon 
learned, was engaged in marriage to a man, who was then 
judge of the supreme court of the state. He was a very 
proud man, and resisted the anxious seat, and spoke against 
it. He was absent a good deal from the city, in holding 
court, and was not that winter converted. A large number 
of the lawyers, however, were converted ; and the young lady 
to whom he was engaged was converted. I mention this be- 
cause the Judge afterwards married her ; which no doubt 
led to his own conversion in a revival which occurred some 
ten years later, the leading particulars of which I shall 
mention in another part of my narrative. 

This revival made a great change in the moral state and 
subsequent history of Eochester. The great majority of ohe 
leading men and women in the city, were converted A 
great number of very striking incidents occurred, that I shall 
not soon forget. One day the lady who first visited me and 
whose conversion I have mentioned, called on me in company 
with a friend of hers with whom she wished me to converse. 
I did so, but found her to all appearance very much hard- 
ened, and rather disposed to trifle with the subject. Her 
husband was a merchant, and they were persons of high 



294 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIXXEY. 

standing in the community. "When I pressed her to attend 
to the subject, she said she would not do it, because her hus- 
band would not attend to it, and she was not going to leave 
him. I asked her if she was willing to be lost because her 
husband would not attend to it ; and if it was not folly to 
neglect her soul because he did his. She replied very 
promptly, " If he goes to hell, I want to go. I want to go 
where he does. I do not want to be separated from him, afc 
any rate." It seemed that I could make very little, if 
any, impression upon her. But from night to night I had 
been making appeals to the congregation, and calling for- 
ward those that were prepared to give their hearts to God ; 
and large numbers were converted every evening. 

As I learned afterwards, when this woman went home, 
her husband said to her, " My dear, I mean to go forward 
to-night, and give my heart to God." ' i What ! " said she ; 
" I have to-day told Mr. Finney that I would not become a 
Christian, or have anything to do with it ; that you did 
not become a Christian, and I would not ; and that if you 
went to hell, I should go with you." "Well," said he, "\ 
do not mean to go to hell. I have made up my mind to go 
forward to-night, and give my heart to Christ." "Well," 
said she, "then I will not go to meeting, I do not want to 
see it. And if you have a mind after all, to become a Chris- 
tian, you may ; I won't." When the time came, he went to 
meeting alone. The pulpit was between the doors, in the 
front of the church. The house was a good deal crowded ; 
but he finally got a seat near one of the aisles, in quite the 
back part of the church. At the close of the meeting, as I 
had done at other times, I called for those that were anxious 
and whose minds were made up, to come forward, and take 
certain seats and occupy a certain space about the pulpit, 
where we could commend them to God in prayer. It after- 
ward appeared that the wife herself had come to the meeting, 
nad passed up the other aisle, and taken a seat almost oppo- 
site him, in the extreme part of the house. When I made 



REVIVAL Itf BOCHESTER. 205 

the call, lie started immediately. She was watching, and as 
soon as she saw him on his feet, and making his way along 
the crowded aisle, she also started down the other aisle, and 
they met in front of the pulpit, and knelt down together as 
subjects of prayer. 

A large number obtained hope on the spot ; but thii 
husband and wife did not. They went home, too proud to 
say much to each other about what they had done, and 
spent a very restless night. The next day, about ten o'clock, 
he called to see me, and was shown into my room. My 
wife occupied a front room on the second floor ; and I a 
room in the rear on the same floor. While I was conversing 
with him, the servant informed me that a lady was waiting 
in Mrs. Finney's room to see me. I excused myself for a 
few moments, and requested him to wait, while I went in to 
see her. I found that it was the woman who but the day 
before had been so stubborn, and the wife of the man who 
was then in my room. Neither of them knew that the 
other had called to see me. I conversed with her, and 
found that she was on the very verge of submitting to 
Christ. I had learned that he was also, to all appearance, 
in the same state. I then returned to him and said, " I am 
going to pray with a lady in Mrs. Finney's room, and we will 
go in there, if you please, and all join in prayer, together." 
He followed me, and found his own wife. They looked at 
each other with surprise, but were both greatly affected, 
each to find the other there. We knelt down ■ to pray. I 
had not proceeded far in prayer before she began to weep, 
and to pray audibly for her husband. I stopped and lis- 
tened, and found that she had lost all concern for herself, 
and was struggling in an agony of prayer for his conversion. 
His heart seemed to break and give way, and just at this 
time the bell rang for our dinner. I thought it would be 
well to leave them together alone. I therefore touched my 
wife, and we rose silently and went down to dinner, leaving 
uiem in prayer. We took a hasty dinner and returned, and 



296 J4EM0IES OF CHARLES G. ELfftfEY. 

found them as mellow, and as humble, and as loving as 
could be desired. 

I have not said much, as yet, of the spirit of prayer that 
prevailed in this revival, which I must not omit to mention. 
When I was on my way to Rochester, as we passed through 
a village, some thirty miles east of Rochester, a brother min- 
ister whom I knew, seeing me on the canal-boat, jumped 
aboard to have a little conversation with me, intending to 
ride but a little way and return. He, however, became inter- 
ested in conversation, and upon finding where I was going, 
he made up his mind to keep on and go with me to Roches- 
ter. We had been there but a few days when this minister 
became so convicted that he could not help weeping aloud, at 
one time, as he passed along the street. The Lord gave him 
a powerful spirit of prayer, and his heart was broken. As 
he and I prayed much together, I was struck with his faith 
in regard to what the Lord was going to do there. I recol- 
lect he would say, " Lord, I do not know how it is ; but I 
seem to know that thou art going to do a great work in this 
city." The spirit of prayer was poured out powerfully, so 
much so, that some persons stayed away from the public ser- 
vices to pray, being unable to restrain their feelings under 
preaching. 

And here I must introduce the name of a man, whom I 
shall have occasion to mention frequently, Mr. Abel Clary. 
He was the son of a very excellent man, and an elder of the 
church where I was converted. He was converted in the 
same revival in which I was. He had been licensed to 
preach ; but his spirit of prayer was such, he was so bur- 
dened with the souls of men, that he was not able to preach 
much, his whole time and strength being given to prayer, 
The burden of his soul would frequently be so great that he 
was unable to stand, and he would writhe and groan in 
agony. I was well acquainted with him, and knew some- 
thing of the wonderful spirit of prayer that was upon him. 



MEYIVAL Iff BOCHESTER. 297 

He was a very silent man, as almost all are who have that 
powerful spirit of prayer. 

The first I knew of his being at Rochester, a gentlemau 
who lived about a mile west of the city, called on me one day, 
and asked me if I knew a Mr. Abel Clary, a minister. I told 
him that I knew him well. " "Well," said he, "he is at my 
house, and has been there for some time, and I don't know 
what to think of him." I said, " I have not seen him at any 
of our meetings. " No," he replied, " he cannot go tc meet- 
ing, he says. He prays nearly all the time, day and night, 
and in such an agony of mind that I do not know what to 
make of it.. Sometimes he cannot even stand on his knees, 
but will lie prostrate on the floor, and groan and pray in a 
manner that quite astonishes me." I said to the brother, 
" I understand it ; please keep still. It will all come out 
right ; he will surely prevail." 

I knew at the time a considerable number of men who 

were exercised in the same way. A Deacon P , of 

Camden, Oneida county ; a Deacon T , of Eodman, 

Jefferson county ; a Deacon B , of Adams, in the same 

county ; this Mr. Clary, and many others among the men, 
and a large number of women, partook of the same spirit, 
and spent a great part of their time in prayer. Father 
Nash, as we called him, who in several of my fields of labor 
came to me and aided me, was another of those men that 
had such a powerful spirit of prevailing prayer. This Mr. 
Clary continued in Rochester as long as I did, and did not 
leave it until after I had left. He never, that I could learn, 
appeared in public, but gave himself wholly to prayer. 

I have said that the moral aspect of things was greatly 
changed by this revival. It was a young city, full of thrift 
and enterprise, and full of sin. The inhabitants were intel- 
ligent and enterprising, in the highest degree ; but as the 
revival swept through the town, and converted the great 
mass of the most influential people, both men and women, 
13* 



298 MBM01ES OF CHARLES G. FLN'IS'EY. 

the change in the order, sobriety, and morality of the city 
was wonderful. 

At a subsequent period, which I shall mention in ita 
place, I was conversing with a lawyer, who was converted at 
this revival of which I have been speaking, and who soon 
after had been made district attorney of the city. His 
business was to superintend the prosecution of criminals. 
From his position he was made thoroughly accquainted with 
the history of crime in that city. In speaking of the revival 
in which he was converted, he said to me, many years after- 
ward : "I have been examining the records of the criminal 
courts, and I find this striking fact, that whereas our city 
has increased since that revival, three-fold, there are not one- 
third as many prosecutions for crime, as there had been up 
to that time. This is," he said, " the wonderful influence 
that that revival had upon the community." Indeed by 
the power of that revival, public sentiment has been molded. 
The public affairs of the city have been, in a great measure 
in the hands of Christian men; and the controlling in- 
fluences in the community have been on the side of Christ. 

Among other conversions I must not forget to mention 
that of Mr. P , a prominent citizen of th at place, a book- 
seller. Mr. P was an infidel ; not an atheist, but a dis- 
believer in the divine authority of the Bible. He was a 
reader and a thinker, a man of keen, shrewd mind, strong 
will, and most decided character. He was, I believe, a man 
of good outward morals, and a gentleman highly respected. 
He came to my room early one morning, and said to me, 
" Mr. Finney, there is a great movement here on the subject 
of religion; but I am a sceptic, and I want you to prove to 
me that the Bible is true." The Lord enabled me at once 
to discern his state of mind, so far as to decide the course I 
should take with him. I said to him, "Do you believe in 
the existence of God ? " "0 yes ! " he said, " I am not 
an atheist" "Well, do you believe that you have treated 
God as you ought ? Have you respected his authority ? 



BEYIVAL IN ROCHESTER 299 

Have you loved him ? Have you done that which you 
thought would please him, and with the design to please 
him ? Don't you admit that you ought to love him, and 
ought to worship him, and ought to obey him, according to 
the best light you have ? " "0 yes ! " he said, " I admit all 
this." " But have you done so t" I asked. "Why, no," 
he answered, "I cannot say that I have." " Well then," 
I replied, " why should I give you farther information, and 
farther light, if you will not do your duty and obey the light 
you already have ? Now," said I, " when you will make 
up your mind to live up to your convictions, to obey God 
according to the best light you have ; when you will make 
up your mind to repent of your neglect thus far, and to 
please God just as well as you know how, the rest of your 
life, I will try to show you that the Bible is from God. 
Until then it is of no use for me to do any such thing." I 
did not sit down, and I think had not asked him to sit 
down. He replied, " I do not know but that is fair ; " and 
retired. 

I heard no more of him until the next morning. Soon 
after I arose, he came to my room again ; and as soon as he 
entered, he clapped his hands and said, " Mr. Finney, God 
has wrought a miracle ! " "I went down to the store," he 
continued, " after 1 left your room, thinking of what you 
had said ; and I made up my mind that I would repent of 
what I knew was wrong in my relations to God, and that 
hereafter I would live according to the best light I had. 
And when I made up my mind to this," said he, " my feel- 
ings so overcame me that I fell ; and I do not know but I 

should have died, if it had not been for Mr. , who was 

with me in the store." From this time he has been, as all 
who know him are aware, a praying, earnest Christian man. 
For many years he has been one of the trustees of Oberlin 
College, has stood by us through all our trials, and has aided 
us with his means and his whole influence. 

During this great revival, persons wrote letters from 



300 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINtfET. 

Rochester, to their friends abroad, giving an account of the 
work, which were read in different churches throughout sev- 
eral states, and were instrumental in producing great revivals 
of religion. Many persons came in from abroad to witness 
the great work of God, and were converted. I recollect that 
a physician was so attracted by what he heard of the work, 
that he came from Newark, New Jersey, to Rochester, to see 
what the Lord was doing, and was himself concerted there. 
He was a man of talents and high culture, and has been for 
years an ardent Christian laborer for immortal souls. 

One evening, I recollect, when I made a call for the anx- 
ious to come forward and submit, a man of influence in a 
neighboring town came forward himself, and several mem- 
bers of his family, and gave themselves to God. Indeed, the 
work spread like waves in every direction. I preached in a? 
many places round about, as I had time and strength to do, 
while my main labors were in Rochester. I went to Canan- 
daigua and preached several times. There the word took 
effect, and many were converted. The pastor, Rev. Ansel 
Eddy, entered heartily into the work. A former pastor, an 
elderly man, an Englishman by birth, also did what he could 
to forward the work. Wherever I went, the word of God 
took immediate effect ; and it seemed only necessary to pre- 
sent the law of God, and the claims of Christ, in such rela- 
tions and proportions as were calculated to secure the con- 
version of men, and they would be converted by scores. 

The greatness of the work at Rochester, at that time, 
attracted so much of the attention of ministers and Christiana 
throughout the State of New York, throughout New Eng- 
land, and in many parts of the United States, that the very 
fame of it was an efficient instrument in the hands of the 
Spirit of God in promoting the greatest revival of religion 
throughout the land, that this country hud then e~er wit- 
nessed. Years after this, in conversing with Dr. ^Beecher 
about this powerful revival and its results, he remarked : 
"That was the greatest work of God, and the greatest 



REVIVAL Itf ROCHESl^ 501 

revival of religion, that the world has ever seen, in so short a 
time. One hundred thousand/' he remarked, " were reported 
as haying connected themselves with churches, as the results 
of that great revival. This," he said, " is unparalleled in the 
history of the church, and of the progress of religion." He 
spoke of this having been done in one year ; and said that in 
no year during the Christian era, had we any account of so 
great a-revival of religion. 

From the time of the New Lebanon convention, of which 
I have spoken, open and public opposition to revivals of 
religion was less and less manifested, and especially did 1 
meet with much less personal opposition than I had met with 
before. It gradually but greatly subsided. At Rochester I 
felt nothing of it. Indeed the waters of salvation had risen 
so high, revivals had become so powerful and extensive, and 
people had had time to become acquainted with them and 
their results, in such measure, that men were afraid to op- 
pose them as they had done. Ministers had come to under- 
stand them better, and the most ungodly sinners had been 
convinced that they were indeed the work of God. So man- 
ifestly were the great mass of the conversions sound, the 
converts really regenerated and made new creatures, so 
thoroughly were individuals and whole communities re- 
formed, and so permanent and unquestionable were the 
results, that the conviction bee "ne nearly universal, that 
they were the work of God 



CHAPTER XXII. 

BETTY AL IN AUBURN", BUFFALO, PBOYTDENCE, AHJ> 
BOSTON. 

DURING the latter part of the time that I was it 
Rochester, my health was poor. I was overdone ; and 
some of the leading physicians, I learned, had made up their 
minds that I never would preach any more. My labors in 
Rochester at that time, had continued through six months ; 
and near their close, Rev. Dr. Wisner, of Ithaca, came down 
and spent some time, witnessing and helping forward the 
work. In the meantime, I was invited to many fields ; and 
among others I was urged by Dr. Nott, president of Union 
College, at Schenectady, to go and labor with him, and if 
possible secure the conversion of his numerous students. I 
made up my mind to comply with his request. 

In company with Dr. Wisner and Josiah Bissell, I started 
in the stage, in the spring of the year 1831, when the going 
was exceedingly bad. I left my wife and children for the 
time at Rochester ; as the travelling was too dangerous, and 
the journey too fatiguing for them. When we arrived at 
Geneva, Dr. Wisner insisted on my going home with him. to 
rest awhile. I declined, and said I must keep about my 
work. He pressed me very hard to go ; and finally told me 
that the physicians in Rochester had told him to take me 
home with him, for I was going to die ; that I would never 
labor any more in revivals, for I had the consumption, and 
could live but a little while. I replied that I had been told 
+his before, but that it was a mistake : that the doctors did 
not understand my case ; that I was only fatigued, and a 
little rest would bring me up. 

Dr. Wisner finally gave up his importunity, and I passed 



REVIVAL m AUBUEH. 803 

on in the stage to Auburn. The going was so very bad, that 
sometimes we could not get on more than two miles an hour, 
and we had been two or three days in going from Eochester 
to Auburn. As I had many dear friends in Auburn, and 
was very much fatigued, I made up my mind to stop there, 
and rest till the next stage. I had paid my fare quite 
through to Schenectady ; but could stop oyer, if I chose, 

for one or more days. I stopped at the house of Mr. T 

S , a son of Chief -Justice S . He was an earnest 

Christian man, and a very dear friend of mine ; consequently 
I went to his house, instead of stopping at the hotel, and 
concluded to rest there till the next stage. 

In the morning, after sleeping quietly at Mr. S 's, I 

had risen, and was preparing to take the stage, which was to 
arrive in the early part of the day, when a gentleman came 
in with the request for me to remain — a request in writing, 
signed by that large number of influential men, of whom I 
have spoken befor,e, as resisting the revival in that place in 
1826. These men had set themselves against the revival, on 
the former occasion, and carried their opposition so far as to 
break from Dr. Lansing's congregation, and form a new one. 
In the meantime, Dr. Lansing had been called to another 
field of labor ; and Eev. Josiah Hopkins, of Vermont, was 
settled as pastor of the First church. The paper to which I 
have alluded, contained an earnest appeal to me to stop and 
labor for their salvation, signed by a long list of unconverted 
men, most of them among the most prominent citizens in 
the city. This was very striking to me. In this paper they 
alluded to the opposition they had formerly made to my 
labors, and besought me to overlook it, and stop and preach 
the Gospel to them. 

This request did not come from the pastor, nor from his 
church, but from those who had formerly led in the opposi- 
tion to the work. But the pastor and the members of his 
church pressed me with all their influence, to remain and 
preach, and comply with the request of these men. They 



30-i MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FINNET. 

appeared as much surprised as I was myself, at the change in 
the attitude of those men. I went to my room, and spread 
the subject before God, and soon made up my mind what to 
do. I told the pastor and his elders that I was very much 
fatigued, and nearly worn out ; but that upon certain con- 
ditions I would remain. I would preach twice upon the 
Sabbath, and two evenings during the week ; but that they 
should take all the rest of the labor upon their own hands ; 
that they must not expect me to attend any other meetings 
than those at which I preached ; and that they must take 
upon themselves the labor of instructing inquirers, and con- 
ducting the prayer and other meetings. I knew that they 
understood how to labor with sinners, and could well trust 
them to perform that part of the work. I furthermore stip- 
ulated that neither they nor their people should visit me, 
except in extreme cases, at my lodgings ; for that I must 
have my days, Sundays excepted, that I might rest, and also 
my evenings, except those when I preached. There were 
three preaching services on the Sabbath, one of which was 
filled by Mr. Hopkins. I preached in the morning and 
evening, I think, of each Sabbath, and he in the afternoon. 

The word took immediate effect. On the first or second 
Sabbath evening that I preached, I saw that the word was 
taking such powerful hold that at the close I called for 
those whose minds were made up, to come forward, publicly 
renounce their sins, and give themselves to Christ. Much 
to my own surprise, and very much to the surprise of the 
pastor and many members of the church, the first man that 
I observed as coming forward and leading the way, was the 
man that had led, and exerted more influence than any 
othei one man, in the opposition to the former revival. He 
came forward promptly, followed by a large number of the 
persons who had signed that paper ; and that evening there 
was such a demonstration made, as to produce a general 
interest throughout the place. 

I have spoken of Mr. Clary as the praying man, who 



REVIVAL IN AUBURN. 805 

was at Koehester. He had a brother, a physician, living in 
Auburn. I think it was the second Sabbath that I was at 
Auburn at this time, I observed in the congregation the 
solemn face of this Mr. Clary. He looked as if he was 
borne down with an agony of prayer. Being well ac- 
quainted with him, and knowing the great gift of God that 
was upon him, the spirit of prayer, I was very glad to see 
him there. He sat in the pew with his brother, the Doctor, 
who was also a professor of religion, but who knew nothing 
by experience, I should think, of his brother Abel's great 
power with God. 

At intermission, as soon as I came down from the pulpit, 
Mr. Clary, with his brother, met me at the pulpit stairs, 
and the Doctor invited me to go home with him and spend 
the intermission and get some refreshments. I did so. 

After arriving at his house we were soon summoned to 
the dinner table. We gathered about the table, and Dr. 
Clary turned to his brother and said, "Brother Abel, will 
you ask a blessing ? " Brother Abel bowed his head and 
began, audibly, to ask a blessing. He had uttered but a 
sentence or two when he broke instantly down, moved sud- 
denly back from the table, and fled to his chamber. The 
Doctor supposed he had been taken suddenly ill, and rose up 
and followed him. In a few moments he came down and 
said, "Mr. Finney, brother Abel wants to see you." Said 
I, "What ails him ?" Said he, "I do not know; but he 
says you know. He appears in great distress, but I think it 
is the state of his mind." I understood it in a moment, 
and went to his room. He lay groaning upon the bed, the 
Spirit making intercession for him, and in him, with groan- 
ings that could not be uttered. I had barely entered the 
room, when he made out to say, "Pray, Brother Finney." 
I knelt down and helped him in prayer, by leading his soul 
out for,the conversion of sinners. I continued to pray until 
his distress passed away, and then I returned to the dinner 
table. 



306 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

I understood that this was the voice of God. I saw the 
Spirit of prayer was upon him, and I felt his influence upon 
myself, and took it for granted that the work would move 
on powerfully. It did so. I believe, but am not quite sure, 
that every one of those men that signed that paper, making 
a long list of names, was converted during that revival. 

But a few years since, Dr. S , of Auburn, wrote to me to 

fcnow if I had preserved that paper, wishing, as he said, to 
ascertain whether every one of the men that signed it, was 
not at that time converted. The paper has been mislaid ; 
and although it is probably among my numerous papers and 
letters, and may sometime be found, yet I could not, at the 
time, answer his inquiry. 

I stayed, at this time, at Auburn, six Sabbaths, preaching, 
as I have said, twice on the Sabbath, and twice during the 
week, and leaving all the rest of the labor for the pastor and 
members of the church. Here, as at Kochester, there was, 
at this time, little or no open opposition. Ministers and 
Christians took hold of the work, and everybody that had a 
mind to work found enough to do, and good success in labor. 

The pastor told me afterward, that he found that in the 
six weeks that I was there, five hundred souls had been con- 
verted. The means that were used, were the same that had 
been used at Kochester. This revival seemed to be only a 
wave of divine power, reaching Auburn from the centre at 
Rochester, whence such a mighty influence had gone out over 
the length and breadth of the land. 

Near the close of my labors here, a messenger arrived 
from Buffalo, with an earnest request that I should visit that 
city. The revival in Kochester had prepared the way in 
Auburn, as in every other place round about, and had also 
prepared the way in Buffalo. At Buffalo, the messenger 
informed me, the work had begun, and a few souls had been 
hopefully converted ; but they felt that other means needed 
to be used, and they urged me so hard, that from Auburn I 
turned back through Rochester to Buffalo. I spent but 



REVIVAL IX BUFFALO. 30? 

about one month, I think, at Buffalo ; during which time a 
large number of persons were hopefully converted. 

The work at Buffalo, as at Auburn and Rochester, took 
effect very generally among the more influential classes.. 
Rev. Dr. Lord, then a lawyer, was converted at that time, 1 

think ; also Mr. H , the father of Rev. Dr. H , of 

Buffalo. There were many circumstances connected with 
his conversion, that I have never forgotten. He was one of 
the most wealthy and influential men in Buffalo, and a man 
of outwardly good morals, fair character, and high standing 
as a citizen, but an impenitent sinner. His wife was a 
Christian woman, and had long been praying for him, and 
hoping that he would be converted. But when I began to 
preach there, and insisted that the sinner's " cannot " is his 
"will not," that the difficulty to be overcome was the volun- 
tary wickedness of sinners, and that they were wholly unwil- 
ling to be Christians, Mr. H rebelled very decidedly 

against such teaching. He insisted upon it that it was false 
in his case ; for he was conscious of being willing to be a 
Christian, and that he had long been willing. 

As his wife informed me of the position that he occupied, 
I did not spare him ; but from day to day, I hunted him 
from his refuges, and answered all his objections, and met 
all his excuses. He became more and more excited. He 
was a man of strong will ; and he declared that he did not, 
and would not, believe such teaching. He said so much in 
opposition to the teaching, as to draw around him some men 
with whom he had no sympathy at all, except in their oppo- 
sition to the work. But I did not hesitate to press him in 
every sermon, in one shape or another, with his unwilling- 
ness to be a Christian. 

.After his conversion, he told me that he was shocked and 
ashamed, when he found that some scoffers had taken refuge 
behind him. One evening, he said, he sat directly across the 
aisle from a notorious scoffer. He said that repeatedly 
while I was preaching, this man, with whom he had no sym- 



308 MEMOIRS 01 CHA&LES G. FI1TOEY. 

pathy at all on other subjects, would look toward him anl 
smile, and give great indications of his fellowship with Mr. 
H 's opposition to the revival. He said that on discover- 
ing this, his heart rose up with indignation ; and he said to 
himself, " I am not going to he in sympathy with that clasa 
of men ; I will have nothing to do with them." 

However, that very night, at the close of my sermon, I 
pressed the consciences of sinners so hard, and made so 
strong an appeal to them to give up their voluntary opposi- 
tion and come to Christ, that he could not contain himself. 
As soon as meeting was out, altogether contrary to his custom, 
he began to resist, and to speak against what had been said, 
before he got out of the house. The aisles were full, and 
people were crowding around him on every side. Indeed he 
made some profane expression, as his wife informed me, 
which very much disturbed her, as she felt that by his oppo- 
sition he was very likely to grieve the Spirit of God away, 
and lose his soul. 

That night he could not sleep. His mind was so exer- 
cised that he, rose as soon as there was any light, left his 
house and went off. to a considerable distance, where there 
was then a grove, near a place where he had some water- 
works which he called " the hydraulics. " There in the grove 
he knelt down to pray. He said he had felt, during the 
night, as if he must get away by himself, so that he could 
speak aloud and let out his voice and his heart, as he was 
pressed beyond endurance with the sense of his sins, and 
with the necessity of immediately making his peace with 
God. But to his surprise and mortification, when he knelt 
down and attempted to pray, he found that his heart would 
not pray. He had no words ; he had no desires that he 
could express in words. He said that it appeared to him 
that his heart was as hard as marble, and that he had not 
the least feeling on the subject. He stood upon his knees 
disappointed ar»^ confounded, and found that if he opened 



REVIVAL IK BUFFALO. 309 

his mouth to pray, he had nothing in the form of prayer that 

he could sincerely utter. 

In this state it occurred to him that he could say the 
Lord's prayer. So he began, "Our Father which art in 
heaven." He said as soon as he uttered the words, he was 
convicted of his hypocrisy in calling God his Father. When 
he added the petition, " Hallowed he thy name," he said it 
almost shocked him. He saw that he was not sincere, that 
his words did not at all express the state of his mind. He 
did not care to have God's name hallowed. Then he uttered 
the next petition, "Thy kingdom come." Upon this, he 
said, he almost choked. He saw that he did not want the 
kingdom of God to come ; that it was hypocritical in him to 
say so, and that he could not say it, as really expressing the 
sincere desire of his heart. And then came the petition, 
"Thy will he done on earth as it is done in heaven." He 
said his heart rose up against that, and he could not say it. 
Here he was brought face to face with the will of God. He 
had been told from day to day that he was opposed to this 
will ; that he was not willing to accept it ; that it was his 
voluntary opposition to God, to his law, and his will, that 
was the only obstacle in the way of his conversion. This 
consideration he had resisted and fought with desperation. 
But here on his knees, with the Lord's prayer in his mouth, 
he was brought face to face with that question ; and he saw 
with perfect clearness that what he had been told, was true • 
that he was not willing that God's will should be done ; and 
that he did not do it himself, because he would not. 

Here the whole question of his rebellion, in its nature 
at;d its extent, was brought so strongly before him, that he 
saw it would cost him a mighty struggle, to give up that 
voluntary opposition to God. And then, he said, he gath- 
ered up all the strength of his will and cried aloud, " Thy 
will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." He said he 
was perfectly conscious that his will went with his words ; 
that he accepted the will of God, and the whole will of God ; 



310 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNET. 

that lie made a full surrender to God, and accepted Christ 
just as he was offered in the Gospel. He gave up his sins, 
and embraced the will of God as his universal rule of life. 
The language of his heart was, " Lord, do with me as seem- 
etfc thee good. Let thy will be done with me, and with all 
creatures on earth, as it is done in heaven." He said he 
prayed freely, as soon as his will surrendered ; and his heart 
poured itself out like a flood. His rebellion all passed away, 
his feelings subsided into a great calm, and a sweet peace 
seemed to fill all his soul. 

He rose from his knees and Avent to his house, and told 
his anxious wife, who had been praying for him so earnestly, 
what the Lord had done for his soul ; and confessed that he 
had been all wrong in his opposition, and entirely deceived 
as it respected his willingness to be a Christian. From that 
time he became an earnest laborer for the promotion of the 
work of God. 

His subsequent life attested the reality of the change, and 
he lived and died a useful, Christian man. From Buffalo I 
went, in June, I think, to my father-in-law's, in Whitestown. 
I spent a part of the summer in journeying for recreation, 
and for the restoration of my health and strength. 

Early in the autumn of 1831, I accepted an invitation to 
hold what was then called "a protracted meeting," or a 
series of meetings, in Providence. I labored mostly in 
the church of which Eev. Dr. Wilson was at that time 
pastor. I think I remained there about three weeks, hold- 
ing meetings every evening, and preaching three times on 
the Sabbath. The Lord poured out his Spirit immediately 
upon the people, and the work of grace commenced and 
went forward in a most interesting manner. However, my 
stay was too short to secure so general a work of grace in 
that place, as occurred afterwards in 1842, when I spent some 
two months there ; the particulars of which I shall relate in 
its proper connection. 

There were many interesting conversions at that time ; 



EBTIYAL IK PROVIDEKCI. 31 J 

and several of the men who have had a leading Christian 
influence in that city, from that time to the present day, 
were converted. This was also true of the women ; many 
very interesting cases of conversion among them occurred. 
I remember with great distinctness the conversion of one 
young lady, which I will in brief relate. I had observed in 
the congregation, on the Sabbath, a young woman of great 
personal beauty, sitting in a pew with a young man who 
I afterwards learned was her brother. She had a very intel- 
lectual, and a very earnest look, and seemed to listen to 
every word I said, with the utmost attention and seriousness. 

I was the guest of Mr. Josiah Ohapin ; and in going from 
the church with him to his own house, I observed this 
young brother and sister going up the same street. I 
pointed them out to Mr. Chapin, and asked him who they 
were. He informed me that they were a Mr. and a Miss 
A. , brother and sister, and remarked that she was con- 
sidered the most beautiful girl in Providence. I asked him 
if she was a professor of religion ; and he said, no. I told 
him I thought her very seriously impressed, and asked him 
if he did not think it would be well for me to call and see 
her. He spoke discouragingly in regard to that, and 
thought it would be a waste of time, and that possibly I 
might not be cordially received. He thought that she was a 
girl so much caressed and flattered, and that her surround- 
ings were such, that she probably entertained but little seri- 
ous thought in regard to the salvation of her soul. But he 
was mistaken ; and I was right in supposing that the Spirit 
of the Lord was striving with her. 

I did not call upon her ; but a few days after this, ahe 
called to see me. I knew her at once, and inquired of her 
in regard to the state of her soul. She was very thoroughly 
awakened ; but her real convictions of sin were not ripened 
into that state that I wished to see and which I thought 
was necessary, before she could be really brought intelligently 
to accept the righteousness of Christ. I therefore spent aa 



312 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItftfEY. 

hour or two — for her call was considerably protracted, in 
trying to show her the depravity of her heart. She at first 
recoiled from my searching questions. But her convictions 
seemed to ripen as I conversed with her ; and she became 
more and more profoundly serious. 

When I had said to her what I thought was necessary to 
Secure a ripened and thorough conviction, under the influ- 
ence of the Spirit of God, she got up with a manifest feel- 
ing of dissatisfaction, and left me. I was confident the 
Spirit of God had so thoroughly taken hold of her case, that 
what I had said to her would not be shaken off, but on the 
contrary that it would work the conviction that I sought to 
produce. 

Two or three days afterwards she called on me again. I 
could see at once that she was greatly bowed down in her 
spirit. As soon as she came in she sat down, and threw her 
heart open to me. With the utmost candor she said to me, 
" Mr. Finney, I thought when I was here before, that your 
questions and treatment of me were pretty severe. But," 
said she, " I see now that I am all that you represented me to 
be. Indeed," said she, "had it not been for my pride and 
regard for my reputation, I should have been as wicked a 
girl as there is in Providence. I can sec," said she, " clearly 
that my life has been restrained by pride, and a regard to my 
reputation, and not from any regard to God, or his law or 
Gospel. I can see that God has made use of my pride and 
ambition, to restrain me from disgraceful iniquities. I have 
been petted and flattered, and have stood upon my dignity ; 
and have maintained my reputation, from purely selfish mo- 
tives." She went on spontaneously, and owned up, and 
showed that her convictions were thorough and permanent. 
She did not appear to be excited, but calm, and in the high- 
est degree rational, in everything that she said. It was evi- 
dent, however, that she had a fervent nature, a strong will, 
and an uncommonly well-balanced and cultivated intellect 

4iter conversing with her for some time, and giving hei 



EE VITAL IK PEQVIDEtfCE. 311 

as thorough instruction as I could, we bowed before the Lord 
in prayer ; and she, to all human appearance, gave herself 
unreservedly to Christ. She was in a state of mind, at this 
time, that seemed to render it easy for her to renounce the 
world. She has always been a very interesting Christian. 
Not many years after her conversion, she was married to a 
wealthy gentleman in the city of Xew York. For several 
years I had no direct correspondence with her. Her hus- 
band took her into a circle of society with which I had no 
particular acquaintance ; and, until after he died, I did not 
renew my acquaintance with her. Since then I have had 
much Christian correspondence with her, and have never 
ceased to be greatly interested in her religious life. I men- 
tion this case, because I have ever regarded it as a wonderful 
triumph of the grace of God over the fascinations of the 
world. The grace of God was too strong for the world, 
3ven in a case like this, in which every worldly fascination 
was surrounding her. 

While I was at Providence, the question of my going to 
Boston was agitated by the ministers and deacons of the 
several Congregational churches of that city. I was not my- 
self aware of what they were doing there ; but Dr. Wisner, 
then pastor of the Old South church, came over to Providence 
and attended our meetings. I afterward learned that he 
was sent over by the ministers, ' f to spy out the land and 
bring back a report." I had several conversations with hini 
and he manifested an almost enthusiastic interest in what 
he saw and heard in Providence. About the time he was 
there, some very striking conversions took place. 

The work at Providence was of a peculiarly searching char- 
acter, as it respected professors of religion. Old hopes were 
terribly shaken, and there was a great shaking among the 
dry bones in the different churches. So terribly was a deacon 
of one of the churches searched on one occasion, that he said 
to me, as I came out of the pulpit, "Mr. Finney, I do not 
believe there are ten real Christians in Providence. We are 
14 



314 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. PLN.N'EY. 

all wrong/' said he; " we haye been deceived." Dr. Wis* 
ner, I believe, was thoroughly convinced that the work was 
genuine, and for the time, extensive ; and that there was no 
indication of influences or results that were to be deplored. 

Af :er Dr. Wisner returned to Boston, I soon received a 
request from the Congregational ministers and churches, to 
go to that city and labor. Dr. Lyman Beecher was at that 
time pastor of the Bowdoin street church ; his son, Edward 
Beecher, was either pastor or stated supply at Park street 
a Mr. Green was pastor of the Essex street church, but had 
gone to Europe for his health, and that church was with- 
out any stated supply at the time. Dr. Fay was pastor of 
the Congregational church in Charlestown ; and Dr. Jenks 
was pastor of the Congregational church in Green street. I 
do not recollect who were the pastors of the other churches 
at the time. 

I began my labors by preaching around in the different 
churches on the Sabbath, and on week evenings I preached 
in Park street. I soon saw that the word of G-od was taking 
effect, and that the interest was increasing from day to day. 
But I perceived also that there needed to be a great search- 
ing among professed Christians. I could not learn that 
there was among them anything like the spirit of prayer that 
had prevailed in the revivals at the West and in New York- 
city. There seemed to be a peculiar type of religion there, 
not exhibiting that freedom and strength of faith which I 
had been in the habit of seeing in New York. 

I therefore began to preach some searching sermons to 
Christians. Indeed I gave out on the Sabbath, that I would 
preach a series of sermons to Christians, in Park street, on 
certain evenings of the week. But I soon found that these 
sermons were not at all palatable to the Christians of Boston. 
It was something they never had been used to, and the 
attendance at Park street became less and less, especially on 
those evenings when I preached to professed Christians. 
This was new to me. I had never before seen professed 



BBVIVAL IS BOSTON. SIS 

(Jhristians shrink back, as they did at that time in Boston, 
from, searching sermons. But I heard, again and again, of 
speeches like these : " What will the Unitarians say, if such 
things are true of us who are orthodox ?" "11 Mr. Finney 
preaches to us in this way, the Unitarians will triumph oyoi 
us, and say, that at least the orthodox are no better Chris- 
tians than Unitarians." It was evident that they somewhat 
resented my plain dealing, and that my searching sermons 
astonished, and even offended, very many of them. How- 
ever, as the work went forward, this state of things changed 
greatly ; and after a few weeks they would listen to search- 
ing preaching, and came to appreciate it. 

I found in Boston, as I had everywhere else, that there 
was a method of dealing with inquiring sinners that was 
very trying to me. I used sometimes to hold meetings of 
inquiry with Dr. Beecher, in the basement of his church. 
One evening when there was a large attendance, and a 
feeling of great searching and solemnity among the in- 
quirers, at the close, as was my custom, I made an address 
in which I tried to point out to them exactly what the Lord 
required of them. My object was to bring them to re- 
nounce themselves and their all, and give themselves and all 
they possessed to Christ. I tried to show them that they 
were not their own, but were bought with a price ; and 
pointed out to them the sense in which they were expected 
to forsake all that they had, and deliver everything to Christ 
as belonging to him. 

I made this point as clear as I possibly could, and sav? 
that the impression upon the inquirers seemed to be very 
deep. I was about to call on them to kneel down, while we 
presented them to G-od in prayer ; when Dr. Beecher arose, 
and said to them, " You need not be afraid to give up all 
to Christ, your property and all, for he will give it right 
back to you." Without making any just discriminations at 
all, as to the sense in which they were to give up their pos- 
sessions, and the sense in which the Lo-*d would allow them 



316 1TBM0IRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

to retain them, he simply exhorted them not to be afraid tc 
give up all, as they had been urged to do, as the Lord would 
give it right back to them. I saw that he was making a 
false impression, and I felt in an agony. I saw that his 
language was calculated to make an impression, the direct 
opposite of the truth. 

After he had finished his remarks, as wisely and care- 
fully as I could, I led them to see that, m the sense in which 
God required them to give up their possessions, he would 
never give them back, and they must not entertain such a 
thought. I tried to say what I said in such a way as not to 
appear to contradict Mr. Beecher, but yet thoroughly to cor- 
rect the impression that I saw he had made. I told' them 
that the Lord did not require them to relinquish all their 
possessions, to quit their business, and houses, and posses- 
sions, and never to have possession of them again ; but he 
did require them to renounce the ownership of them, to 
understand and realize that these things were not theirs, but 
the Lord's ; that his claim was absolute, and his property in 
themselves and in everything else, so entirely above the right 
of every other being in the universe, that what he required 
of them was to use themselves and everything else as belong 
ing to him ; and never to think that they had a right to use 
their time, their strength, their substance, their influence, 
or anything else which they possessed, as if it were their own, 
and not the Lord's. 

Dr. Beecher made no objection to what I said, either at 
the time, or ever, so far as I know ; and it is not probable 
that he intended anything inconsistent with this, in what he 
aid. Yet his language was calculated to make the impres- 
sion that God would restore their possessions to them, in the 
sense in which they had relinquished them, and given them 
up to him. 

The members of the orthodox churches of Boston, at this 
time, generally, I believe, received my views of doctrine with- 
out question. I know that Dr. Beecher did ; for he told me 



BBVIYAL IN BOSTON. 317 

that he had never seen a man with whose theological views 
he so entirely accorded, as he did with mine. There was one 
point of my orthodoxy, however, to which many of them at 
the time objected. There was a Mr. Band, who published, 
I think, a periodical in Boston at that time, who wrote an 
earnest article against my views on the subject of the divine 
agency in regeneration. I preached that the divine agency 
was that of teaching and persuasion, that the influence was 
a moral, and not a physical one. President Edwards had 
held the contrary ; and Mr. Rand held with President Ed- 
wards, that the divine agency exercised in regeneration was 
a physical one ; that it produced a change of nature, instead 
of a change in the voluntary attitude and preference of the 
soul". Mr. Rand regarded my views on this subject as quite 
out of the way. There were some other points of doctrine 
upon which he dwelt in a critical manner ; such, for exam- 
ple, as my views of the voluntary nature of moral depravity, 
and the sinner's activity in regeneration. 

Dr. Wisner wrote a reply, and justified my views, with the 
exception of those that I maintained on the persuasive or 
moral influence of the Holy Spirit. He was not then pre- 
pared to take the ground, against President Edwards, and 
the general orthodox view of New England, that the Spirit's 
agency was not physical, but only moral. Dr. Woods, of 
Andover, also published an article in one of the periodicals, 
I believe the one published at Andover, under this title : 
" The Holy Ghost the author of regeneration." This was, 
I think, the title ; at any rate the design was to prove that 
egeneration was the work of God. He quoted of course, 
that class of scriptures that assert the divine agency in the 
work of changing the heart. 

To this, I made no reply in writing ; but in my preach- 
ing I said that that was only a half truth ; that the Bible 
just as plainly asserts that regeneration is the work of man ; 
and I quoted those passages that affirm it. Paul said to one 
of the churches, that he had begotten them, that is regen- 



Jib MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. JFItftfET. 

erated them ; for the same word is used as in other passages, 
where regeneration is ascribed to God. It is easy, therefore, 
to show that God has an agency in regeneration, and that 
his agency is that of teaching or persuasion. It is also easy 
to show that the subject has an agency ; that the acts of 
repentance, faith, and loye are his own ; and that the Spirit 
persuades him to put forth these acts, by presenting to him 
the truth. As the truth is the instrument, the Holy Spirit 
must be one of the agents ; and a preacher, or some human, 
intelligent agent, generally, also co-operates in the work. 
There was nothing at all unchristian, that I recollect, in any 
of the discussions that we had, at that time ; nothing that 
grieved the Spirit or produced any unkind feelings among 
the brethren. 

After I had spent some weeks, in preaching about in the 
different congregations, I consented to supply Mr. Green's 
church in Essex street statedly, for a time. I therefore con- 
centrated my labors upon that field. We had a blessed work 
of grace ; and a large number of persons were converted in 
different parts of the city. 

I had become fatigued, as I had labored about ten years 
as an evangelist, without anything more than a few days or 
weeks of rest, during the whole period. The ministerial 
brethren were true men, had taken hold of the work as well 
as they knew how, and labored faithfully and efficiently in 
securing good results. 

By this time, a second free church had been formed in 
New York city. Mr. Joel Parker's church, the first free 
church, had grown so large, that a colony had gone off, and 
formed a second church ; to which Rev. Mr. Barrows, of 
iate years professor at Andover, had been preaching. Some 
earnest brethren wrote to me from New York, proposing to 
lease a theatre, and fit it up for a church, upon condition 
that I would come there and preach. They proposed to get 
what was called the " Chatham street theatre," in the heart 
of the most irreligious population of New York. It was 



BEVIVAL m BOSTON 319 

owned by men who were yery willing to have it trans- 
formed into a church. At this time we had three children, 
and I conld not well take my family with me, while laboring 
as an evangelist. My strength, too, had become a good deal 
exhausted ; and on praying and looking the matter over, I 
concluded that I would accept the call from the Second Free 
church, and labor, for a time at least, in New York 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

LABORS IN NEW YORK CITY, IN 1832, AND ONWABD. 

MR. LEWIS TAPPAN, with other Christian brethren, 
leased the Chatham street theatre, and fitted it up for 
a church, and as a suitable place to accommodate the various 
charitable societies, in holding their anniversaries. They 
called me, and I accepted the pastorate of the Second Free 
Presbyterian church. I left Boston in April, 1832, and com- 
menced labors in that theatre, at that time. The Spirit of 
the Lord was immediately poured out upon us, and we had 
an extensive revival that spring and summer. 

About midsummer the cholera appeared in New York, 
for the first time. The panic became great, and^a great 
many Christian people fled into the country. The cholera 
was very severe in the city that summer, more so than it 
ever has been since ; and it was especially fatal in the part 
of the city where I resided. I recollect counting, from the 
door of our house, five hearses drawn up at the same time, at 
different doors within sight. I remained in New York until 
quite the latter part of summer, not being willing to leave 
the city while the mortality was so great. But I found that 
the influence was undermining my health, and in the latter 
part of summer I went into the country, for two or three 
weeks. On my return, I was installed as pastor of the 
church. During the installation services, I was taken ill ; 
and soon after I got home, it was plain that I was seized 
with the cholera. The gentleman at the next door, was 
seized about the same time, and before morning he waa 
dead. The means used for my recovery, gave my system ? 
terrible shock, from which it took me long to recover 



LABOES IS SEW TOKK CITY. 321 

However, toward spring I was able to preach again. I in- 
vited two ministerial brethren to help me in holding a series 
of meetings. We preached in turn for two or three weeks, 
but very little was accomplished. I saw that it was not the 
way co promote a revival there, and I drew the meeting, in 
that form, to a close. 

On the next Sabbath, I made appointments to preach 
every evening during the week, and a revival immediately 
commenced, and became very powerful. I continued to 
preach for twenty evenings in succession, beside preaching 
on the Sabbath. My health was not yet vigorous, and after 
preaching twenty evenings, I suspended that form of my 
labors. The converts known to us numbered five hundred, 
and our church became so large, that very soon a colony was 
sent oh* to form another church ; and a suitable building 
was erected for that purpose, on the corner of Madison and 
Catharine streets. 

The work continued to go forward, in a very interesting 
manner. We held meetings of inquiry once or twice a week, 
and sometimes oftener, and found that every week, a goodly 
number of conversions was reported. The church were a 
praying, working people. They were thoroughly united, 
were well trained in regard to labors for the conversion of 
sinners, and were a most devoted and efficient church of 
Christ. They would go out into the highways and hedges, 
and bring people to hear preaching, whenever they were 
called upon to do so. Both men and women would under- 
take this work. When we wished to give notice of any extra 
meetings, little slips of paper, on which was printed an invi- 
tation to attend the services, would be carried from house to 
house, in every direction, by the members of the church ; 
especially in that part of the city in which Chatham street 
chapel, as we called it, was located. By the distribution of 
these slips, and by oral invitations, the house could be filled, 
any evening in the week. Our ladies were not afraid to go 
and gather in all classes, from the neighborhood round about. 
14* 



322 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIN2TEY. 

It was something new to have religions services in that thea- 
tre, instead of such scenes as had formerly been enacted 
there. 

There were three rooms, connected with the front part 
of the theatre, long, large rooms, which were fitted up foi 
prayer-meetings, and for a lecture-room. These rooms had 
been used for very different purposes, while the main build- 
ing was occupied as a theatre. But, when fitted up for our 
purpose, they were exceedingly convenient. There were 
three tiers of galleries ; and those rooms were connected with 
the galleries respectively, one above the other. 

I instructed my church-members to scatter themselves 
over the whole house, and to keep their eyes open, in regard 
to any that were seriously affected under preaching, and if 
possible, to detain them after preaching, for conversation and 
prayer. They were true to their teaching, and were on the 
lookout at every meeting to see with whom the word of God 
was taking effect ; and they had faith enough to dismiss 
their fears, and to speak to any whom they saw to be affected 
by the word. In this way the conversion of a great many 
souls was secured. They would invite them into those rooms, 
and there we could converse and pray with them, and thus 
gather up the results of every sermon. 

A case which I this moment recollect, will illustrate the 
manner in which the members would work. The firm of 
Naylor and Company, who were at that time the great 
cutlery manufacturers in Sheffield, England, had a house in 

New York, and a partner by the name of H •. Mr. H 

was a worldly man, had traveled a great deal, and had 
resided in several of the principal cities of Europe. One of 
the clerks of that establishment had come to our meetings 
and been converted, and felt very anxious for the conversion 

of Mr. H . The young man, for some time, hesitated 

about asking him to attend our meetings, but he finally 
ventured to do so ; and in compliance with his earnest 
entreaty, Mr. H came one evening to meeting. 



LABORS IN" NEW YOEK CITY. 323 

As it happened, lie sat near the broad aisle, oyer against 
where Mr. Tappan sat. Mr. Tappan saw that, during the 
sermon, he manifested a good deal of emotion ; and seemed 
uneasy at times, as if he were on the point of going out. 

Mr. H afterwards acknowledged to me, that he was 

several times on the point of leaving, because he was so 
affected by the sermon. But he remained till the Messing 
was pronounced. Mr. Tappan kept his eye upon mm, and 
as soon as the blessing was pronounced, introduced himself 
as Mr. Tappan, a partner of Arthur Tappan and Company, 
a firm well known to everybody in New York. 

I have heard Mr. H himself relate the facts, with 

great emotion. He said that Mr. Tappan riepped up to 
him, and took him gently by the button of his coat, and 
spoke very kindly to him, and asked him if he would not 
remain for prayer and conversation. He tried to excuse him- 
self and to get away ; but Mr. Tappan was so gentlemanly 
and so kind, that he could not well get away from him. He 

was importunate, and, as Mr. H expressed it, "he held 

fast to my button, so that," said he, "an ounce weight at 
my button was the means of saving my soul." The people 
retired, and Mr. H among others, was persuaded to re- 
main. According to our custom we had a thorough conver- 
sation ; and Mr. H was either then, or very soon after. 

hopefully converted. 

When I first went to Chatham street chapel, I informed 
the brethren that I did not wish to fill up the house with 
Christians from other churches, as my object was to gather 
from the world. I wanted to secure the conversion of the 
ungodly, to the utmost possible extent. We therefore gave 
ourselves to labor for that class of persons, and by the bless- 
ing of God, with good success. Conversions were multiplied 
so much that our church would soon become so large that 
we would send off a colony ; and when I left New York, I 
think, we had seven free churches, whose members were 
laboring with all their might to secure the salvation of souls. 



324 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

They were supported mostly by collections, that were taken 
up from Sabbath to Sabbath. If at any time there was a 
deficiency in the treasury, there were a number of brethren 
of property, who would at once supply the deficiency from 
their own purses ; so that we never had the least difficulty in 
meeting the pecuniary demands. 

A more harmonious, prayerful, and efficient people, I 
never knew, than were the members of those free churches. 
They were not among the rich, although there were several 
men of property belonging to them. In general they were 
gathered from the middle and lower classes of the people. 
This was what we aimed to accomplish, to preach the Gos- 
pel especially to the poor. 

When I first went to New York, I had made up my mind 
on the question of slavery, and was exceedingly anxious to 
arouse public attention to the subject. I did not, however, 
turn aside to make it a hobby, or divert the attention of the 
people from the work of converting souls. Nevertheless, in 
my prayers and preaching, I so often alluded to slavery, and 
denounced it, that a considerable excitement came to exist 
among the people. 

While I was laboring at Chatham street chapel, some 
events occurred connected with the presbytery, that led to 
the formation of a Congregational church, and to my be- 
coming its pastor. A member came to us from one of the 
old churches ; and we were soon informed that, before he 
came, he had committed an offence for which he needed to 
be disciplined. I supposed that, since he had been recom- 
mended to us as a member of another church in good stand- 
ing, and since the offence had been committed before he left 
that church, that it belonged to them to discipline him. 
The question was brought before the Third Presbytery of 
New York, to which I then belonged, and they decided that 
he was under our jurisdiction, and that it belonged to us to 
take the case in hand, and discipline him. We did so. 

But soon another case occurred, in which a woman came 



LABOES UST KEW TOEK CITY. 325 

from one of the churches, and united with us, and we found 
that she had been guilty of an offence, before she came to us, 
which called for discipline. In accordance with the ruling 
of the presbytery in the other case, we went forward and 
excommunicated her. She appealed from the decision of the 
session, to the presbytery ; and they decided that the offence 
was not committed under our jurisdiction, and ruled in a 
manner directly opposite to their former ruling. I expostu- 
lated, and told them that I did not know how to act ; that 
the two cases were precisely similar, and that their rulings in 
the two cases were entirely inconsistent, and opposed to each 
other. Dr. Cox replied that they would not be governed by 
their own precedent, or by any other precedent ; and talked 
so warmly, and pressed the case so hard, that the presbytery 
went with him. 

Soon after this, the question came up of building the 
Tabernacle in Broadway. The men that built it, and the 
leading members who formed the church there, built it with 
the understanding that I should be its pastor, and they 
formed a Congregational church. I then took my dismission 
from the presbytery, and became pastor of that Congrega- 
tional church. 

But I should have said that in January, 1834, I was 
obliged to leave on account of my health, and take a sea 
voyage. I went up the Mediterranean, therefore, in a small 
brig, in the midst of winter. We had a very stormy passage. 
My state room was small, and I was on the whole, very un- 
comfortable ; and the voyage, did not much improve my 
health. I spent some weeks at Malta, and also in Sicily. I 
was gone about six months. On my return, I found that 
there was a great excitement in New York. The members 
of my church, together with other abolitionists in New 
York, had held a meeting on the fourth of July, and had 
had an address on the subject of slave-holding. A mob 
was stirred up, and this was the beginning of that series of 
mobs that spread in many directions, whenever and whoever 



326 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

there was an anti-slavery gathering, or a voice lifted up 
against the abominable institution of slavery. 

However, I went forward in my labors in Chatham street 
The work of God immediately revived and went forward 
with great interest, numbers being converted at almost or 
quite every meeting. I continued to labor thus in Chatham 
street, and the church continued to flourish, and to extend 
its influence and its labors, in every direction, until the 
Tabernacle in Broadway was completed. 

The plan of the interior of that house was my own. 1 
had observed the defects of churches in regard to sound ; 
and was sure that I could give the plan of a church, in which 
I could easily speak to a much larger congregation than any 
house would hold, that I had ever seen. An architect was con- 
sulted, and I gave him my plan. But he objected to it, that 
it would not appear well, and feared that it would injure his 
reputation, to build a church with such an interior as that. 
I told him that if he would not build it on that plan, he was 
not the man to superintend its construction at all. It was 
finally built in accordance with my ideas ; and it was a 
most commodious, and comfortable place to speak in. 

In this connection I must relate the origin of the New 
York Evangelist. When I first went to the city of New 
York, and before I went there, the New York Observer, in 
the hands of Mr. Morse, had gone into the controversy 
originating in Mr. Nettle ton's opposition to the revivals in 
central New York. The Observer had sustained Mr. Nettle- 
ton's course, and refused to publish anything on the other 
side. The writings of Mr. Nettleton and his friends, Mr. 
Morse would publish in the Observer ; but if any reply was 
made, by any of the friends of those revivals, he would not 
publish it. In this state of things, our friends had no organ 
through which they could communicate with the public to 
correct misapprehensions. 

Judge Jonas Piatt, of the supreme court, was then living 
in New York, and was a friend of mine. His son and 



LABOBS W NEW YORK CITY. 627 

daughter had been hopefully converted in the revival at 
Utica. Considerable effort was made, by the friends of those 
revivals, to get a hearing on the question in debate, but all in 
vain. Judge Piatt found one day, pasted on the inside of the 
cover of one of his old law books, a letter written by one of 
the pastors in New York, against Whitefield, at the time he 
was in this country. That letter of the New York pastor 
struck Judge Piatt, as so strongly resembling the oppositior 
made by Mr. Nettleton, that he sent it to the New York 
Observer, and wished it to be published as a literary curiosity, 
it having been written nearly a hundred years before. Mr. 
Morse refused to publish it, assigning as a reason, that the 
people would regard it as applying to the opposition of Mr. 
Nettle ton. 

At length, some of the friends of the revivals in New 
York, assembled and talked the matter over, of establishing 
a new paper that should deal fairly with those questions. 
They finally commenced the enterprise. I assisted them in 
getting out the first number, in which I invited ministers 
and laymen to consider, and discuss several questions in 
theology, and also questions relating to the best means of 
promoting revivals of religion. 

The first editor of the paper was a Mr. Saxton, a young 
man who had formerly labored a good deal with Mr. Nettle- 
ton, but who strongly disapproved of the course he had been 
taking, in opposing what he then called " the western revi- 
vals." This young man continued in the editorial chair 
about a year, and discussed, with considerable ability, many 
?f the questions that had been proposed for discussion. The 
paper changed editors two or three times, perhaps, in the 
course of as many years ; and finally Kev. Joshua Leavitt 
was called, and accepted the editorial chair. He, as every- 
body knows, was an able editor. The paper soon went into 
extensive circulation, and proved itself a medium through 
which the friends of revivals, as they then existed, could 
eommunicate their thoughts to the public. 



328 MEMOIRS 0E CHAELES G. FINNEY. 

I have spoken of the building of the Tabernacle, and ot 
the excitement in New York on the subject of slavery. 
When the Tabernacle was in the process of completion, its 
walls being up, and the roof on, a story was set in circulation 
that it was going to be " an amalgamation church, " in 
which colored and white people were to be compelled to sit 
promiscuously, over the house. Such was the state of the 
public mind in New York, at that time, that this report 
created a great excitement, and somebody set the building 
on fire. The firemen were in such a state of mind that they 
refused to put it out, and left the interior and roof to be 
consumed. However the gentlemen who had undertaken to 
build it, went forward and completed it. 

As the excitement increased on the subject of slavery, 
Mr. Leavitt espoused the cause of the slave, and advocated 
it in the New York Evangelist. I watched the discussion 
with a good deal of attention and anxiety, and when I was 
about to leave, on the sea voyage to which I have referred, 
I admonished Mr. Leavitt to be careful and not go too fast, 
in the discussion of the anti-slavery question, lest he should 
destroy his paper. On my homeward passage my mind 
became exceedingly exercised on the question of revivals. I 
feared that they would decline throughout the country. I 
feared that the opposition that had been made to them, had 
grieved the Holy Spirit. My own health, it appeared to 
me, had nearly or quite broken down ; and I knew of no 
other evangelist that would take the field, and aid pastors in 
revival work. This view of the subject distressed me so 
much that one day I found myself unable to rest. My soul 
was ii an utter agony. I spent almost the entire day in 
prayer in my state room, or walking the deck in intense 
agony, in view of the state of things. In fact I felt crushed 
with the burden that was on my soul. There was no one on 
board to whom I could open my mind, or say a word. 

It was the spirit of prayer that was upon me ; that 
which I had often before experienced in kind but perhaps 



liABOES 1ST JOW YOHK CITY. 32U 

never before to such a degree, for so long a time. I besought 
the Lord to go on with his work, and to provide himseli 
with such instrumentalities as were necessary. It was a 
long summer day, in the early part of July. After a day of 
unspeakable wrestling and agony in my soul, just at night, 
the subject cleared up to my mind. The Spirit led me to 
believe that all would come out right, and that God had yet 
a work for me to do ; that I might be at rest ; that the Lord 
would go forward with his work, and give me strength to 
take any part in it that he desired. But I had not the least 
idea what the course of his providence would be. 

On arriving at New York I found, as I have said, the 
mob excitement, on the subject of slavery, very intense. I 
remained but a day or two in New York, and went into the 
country, to the place where my family were spending the 
summer. On my return to New York, in the fall, Mr. 
Leavitt came to me and said, "Brother Finney, I have 
ruined the Evangelist. I have not been as prudent as you 
cautioned me to be, and I have gone so far ahead of public 
intelligence and feeling on the subject, that my subscription 
list is rapidly failing ; and we shall not be able to continue 
its publication beyond the first of January, unless you can 
do something to bring the paper back to public favor again. 
I told him my health was such that I did not know what I 
could do ; but I would make it a subject of prayer. He 
said if I could write a series of articles on revivals, he had 
no doubt it would restore the paper immediately to public 
favor. After considering it a day or two, I proposed to 
preach a course of lectures to my people, on revivals of 
religion, which he might report for his paper. He caught 
at this at once. Says he, " That is the very thing ; " and in 
the next number of his paper he advertised the course of 
lectures. This had the effect he desired, and he soon after 
told me that the subscription list was very rapidly increas- 
ing ; and, stretching out his long arms, he said, " I have as 
many new subscribers every day, as would fill my arms with 



330 MEMOIKS QE CHAELES G. EI^^EY. 

papers, to supply tliem each a single number." He had told 
me before, that his subscription list had fallen off at the rate 
of sixty a day. But now he said it was increasing more 
rapidly than it ever had decreased. 

I began the course of lectures immediately, and continued 
them through the winter, preaching one each week. Mr. 
Leavitt could not write short-hand, but would sit and take 
notes, abridging what he wrote, in such a way that he could 
understand it himself ; and then the next day he would sit 
down and fill out his notes, and send them to the press. I 
did not see what he had reported, until I saw it published in 
his paper. I did not myself write the lectures, of course ; 
they were wholly extemporaneous. I did not make up my 
mind, from time to time, what the next lecture should be, 
until I saw his report of my last. Then I could see what 
was the next question that would naturally need discussion. 
Brother Leavitt's reports were meagre, as it respects the mat- 
ter contained in the lectures. The lectures averaged, if I 
remember right, not less than an hour and three quarters, in 
their delivery. But all that he could catch and report, 
could be read, probably in thirty minutes. 

These lectures were afterward published in a book, and 
called, "Finney's Lectures on Revivals." Twelve thousand 
copies of them were sold, as fast as they could be printed. 
And here, for the glory of Christ, I would say, that they have 
been re-printed in England and France ; they were translated 
into Welsh ; and on the continent were translated into 
French and, I believe, into German ; and were very exten- 
sively circulated throughout Europe, and the colonies of 
Great Britain. They were, I presume, to be found wherever 
the English language, is spoken. After they had been 
printed in Welsh, the Congregational ministers of the Princi- 
pality of Wales, at one of their public meetings, appointed a 
committee to inform me of the great revival that had resulted 
from the translation of those lectures into the Welsh language. 
This they did by letter. One publisher in London informed 



LABORS IK STEW YORK CITY. 881 

me, tliat his father had published eighty thousand volumes 
of them. These revival lectures, meagre as was the report 
of them, and feeble as they were in themselves, have been 
instrumental, as I have learned, in promoting revivals in 
England, and Scotland, and Wales, on the continent in 
various places, in Canada East and West, in Nova Scotia, 
and in some of the islands of the sea. 

In England and Scotland, I have often been refreshed 
by meeting with ministers and laymen, in great numbers, 
that had been converted, directly or indirectly, through the 
instrumentality of those lectures. I recollect the last time 
that I was abroad, one evening, three very prominent minis- 
ters of the Gospel introduced themselves to me, after the 
sermon, and said that when they were in college they got 
hold of my revival lectures, which had resulted in their 
becoming ministers. I found persons in England, in all the 
different denominations, who had not only read those revi- 
val lectures, but had been greatly blessed in reading them. 
When they were first published in the New York Evangelist, 
the reading of them resulted in revivals of religion, in multi- 
tudes of places throughout this country. 

But this was not of man's wisdom. Let the reader 
remember that long day of agony and prayer at sea, that God 
would do something to forward the work of revivals, and 
enable me, if he desired to do it, to take such a course as to 
help forward the work. I felt certain then that my prayers 
would be answered; and I have regarded all that I have 
since been able to accomplish, as, in a very important sense, 
an answer to the prayers of that day. The spirit of prayer 
came upon me as a sovereign grace, bestowed upon me with- 
out the least merit, and in despite of all .my sinfulness. He 
pressed my soul in prayer, until I was enabled to prevail ; 
and through infinite riches of grace in Christ Jesus, I have 
been many years witnessing the wonderful results of thaf 
day of wrestling with God. In answer to that day's agony, 
he has continued to give me the spirit of prayer. 



332 MEMOIBfi OF CHAELES G. FINUEl. 

Soon after I returned to New York, I commenced my 
labors in the Tabernacle. The Spirit of the Lord was 
poured out upon us, and we had a precious revival, as long 
as I continued to be pastor of that church. While in New 
York, I had many applications from young men, to take them 
us students in theology. I, however, had too much on my 
hands, to undertake such a work. But the brethren who 
built the Tabernacle had this in view ; and prepared a room 
under the choir, which we expected to use for prayer-meet- 
ings, but more especially for a theological lecture-room. The 
number of applications had been so large, that I had made up 
my mind to deliver a course of theological lectures in that 
room each year, and let such students as chose, attend them 
gratuitously. 

But about this time, and before I had opened my lectures 
in New York, the breaking up at Lane Seminary took place, 
on account of the prohibition by the trustees, of the discus- 
sion of the question of slavery among the students. When 
this occurred, Mr. Arthur Tappan proposed to me, that if I 
would go to some point in Ohio, and take rooms where I 
could gather those young men, and give them my views in 
theology, and prepare them for the work of preaching 
throughout the West, he would be at the entire expense of 
the undertaking. He was very earnest in this proposal. 
But I did not know how to leave New York ; and I did not 
see how I could accomplish the wishes of Mr. Tappan, 
although I strongly sympathized with him in regard to 
helping those young men. They were most of them con- 
verts in those great revivals, in which I had taken more or 
less part. 

While this subject was under consideration, I think, in 
January, 1835, Rev. John Jay Shipherd, of Oberlin, and 
Rev. Asa Mahan, of Cincinnati, arrived in New York, to per- 
suade me to go to Oberlin, as professor of theology. Mr. 
Mahan had been one of the trustees of Lane Seminary — the 
only one, I think, that had resisted the prohibition of free 



LABORS IN" NEW YOKK CITY. 33b 

discussion. Mr. Shipherd had founded a colony, and organ- 
ized a school at Oberlin, about a year before this time, and 
had obtained a charter broad enough for a university. Mr. 
Mahan had never been in Oberlin. The trees had been 
removed from the college square, some dwelling-houses and 
one college building had been erected, and about a hundred 
pupils had been gathered, in the preparatory or academic 
department of the institution. 

The proposal they laid before me was, to come on, and 
take those students that had left Lane Seminary, and teach 
them theology. These students had themselves proposed to 
go to Oberlin, in case I would accept the call. This pro- 
posal met the views of Arthur and Lewis Tappan, and many 
of the friends of the slave, who sympathized with Mr. Tappan, 
in his wish to have those young men instructed, and brought 
into the ministry. We had several consultations on the 
subject. The brethren in New York who were interested 
in the question, offered, if I would go and spend half of 
each year in Oberlin, to endow the institution, so far as 
the professorships were concerned, and to do it immedi- 
ately. 

I had understood that the trustees of Lane Seminary had 
acted (t over the heads " of the faculty ; and, in the absence 
of several of them, had passed the obnoxious resolution that 
had caused the students to leave. I said, therefore, to Mr. 
Shipherd, that I would not go at any rate, unless two points 
were conceded by the trustees. One was, that they should 
never interfere with the internal regulation of the school, 
but should leave that entirely to the discretion of the faculty. 
The other was, that we should be allowed to receive colored 
people on the same conditions that we did white people ; 
that there should be no discrimination made on account 
of color. 

When these conditions were forwarded to Oberlin, the 
trustees were called together, and after a great struggle tc 
overcome their own prejudices, and the prejudices of the 



334 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES Q. FLNtfET. 

community, they passed resolutions complying with the con- 
ditions proposed. This difficulty being removed, the friends 
in New York were called together, to see what they could do 
about endowing the institution. In the course of an hour 
or two, they had a subscription filled for the endowment of 
eight professorships ; as many, it was supposed, as the institu- 
tion would need for several years. 

But after this endowment fund was subscribed, I felt a 
great difficulty in giving up that admirable place for preach- 
ing the Gospel, where such crowds were gathered within the 
sound of my voice. I felt, too, assured that in this new 
enterprise, we should have great opposition from many 
sources. I therefore told Arthur Tappan that my mind did 
not feel at rest upon the subject ; that we should meet with 
great opposition because of our anti-slavery principles ; and 
that we could expect to get but very scanty funds to put up 
our buildings, and to procure all the requisite apparatus of a 
college ; that therefore I did not see my way clear, after all, 
to commit myself, unless something could be done that 
should guarantee us the funds that were indispensable. 

Arthur Tappan's heart was as large as all New York, and 
I might say, as large as the world. When I laid the case 
thus before him, he said, " Brother Finney, my own in- 
come averages about a hundred thousand dollars a year. 
Now if you will go to Oberlin, take hold of that work, and 
go on, and see that the buildings are put up, and a library 
and everything provided, I will pledge you my entire income, 
except what I need to provide for my family, till you are 
beyond pecuniary want." Having perfect confidence in 
brother Tappan I said, " That will do. Thus far the diffi- 
culties are out of the way." 

But still there was a great difficulty in leaving my church 
in New York. I had never thought of having my labors at 
Oberlin interfere with my revival labors and preaching. It 
was therefore agreed between myself and the church, that I 



LIBORS IN NEW YORK CITY. 335 

should spend my winters in New York, and my summers at 
Oberlin ; and that the church would be at the expense of my 
going and coming. 

When this was arranged, I took my family, and arrived 
in Oberlin at the beginning of summer, 1835. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

KAELT LABOKS IN OBEBLIK. 

THE students from Lane Seminary came to Oberlin, and 
the trustees put up "barracks," in which they were 
lodged, and other students thronged to us from every direc- 
tion. After I was engaged to come, the brethren at Oberlin 
wrote, requesting me to bring a large tent, to hold meetings 
in ; as there was no room in the place, large enough to ac- 
commodate the people. I made this request known to some 
of my brethren, who told me to go and get a tent made, and 
they would furnish the money. I went and engaged the 
tent, and they handed me the money to pay for it. It was 
a circular tent, a hundred feet in diameter, furnished with 
all the equipments for putting it up. At the top of the 
centre pole which supported the tent, was a streamer, upon 
which was written in very large characters, " Holiness to the 
Lord." This tent was of great service to us. When the 
weather would permit, we spread it upon the square every 
Sabbath, and held public services in it ; and several of our 
earliest commencements were held in it. It was used, to 
some extent also, for holding protracted meetings in the re- 
gion round about, where there were no churches large enough 
+ o meet the necessities. 

I have spoken of the promise of Arthur Tappan to sup- 
ply us with funds, to the extent of his whole income, till we 
were beyond pecuniary want. Upon this understanding 
with him, I entered upon the work. But it was farther 
understood between us, that his pledge should not be known 
to the trustees, lest they should fail to make due efforts, as 
he desired, not merely to collect funds, but to make the 



BAKLY LABOES Itf OBEKLIN. 337 

wants and objects of the institution known throughout the 
land. In accordance with this understanding, the work hero 
was pushed as fast as it could well be, considering that we 
were in the heart of a great forest, and in a location, at that 
time in many respects undesirable. 

"We had only fairly entered upon the work of putting up 
jar ouildings, and had arranged to need a large amount of 
money, whei the great commercial crash prostrated Mr. 
Tappan, and nearly all the men who had subscribed for the 
fund for the support of the faculty. The commercial crash 
went over the country, and prostrated the great mass of 
wealthy men. It left us, not only without funds for tho 
support of the faculty, but thirty thousand dollars in debt ; 
without any prospect, that we could see, of obtaining funds 
from the friends of the college in* this country. Mr. Tappan 
wrote me at this time, acknowledging expressly the promise 
he had made me, and expressing the deepest regret that he 
was prostrated, and wholly unable to fulfil his pledge. Our 
necessities were then great, and to human yiew it would seem 
that the college must be a failure. 

The great mass of the people of Ohio were utterly op- 
posed to our enterprise, because of its abolition character. 
The towns around us were hostile to our movement, and in 
some places threats were made to come and tear down our 
buildings. A democratic legislature was, in the meantime, 
endeavoring to get some hold of us, that would enable them 
to abrogate our charter. In this state of things there was, 
of course, a great crying to God among the people here. 

In the meantime, my revival lectures had been very ex- 
tensively circulated in England ; and we were aware that the 
British public would strongly sympathize with us, if they 
knew our objects, our prospects, and our condition. We 
therefore sent an agency to England, composed of Rev. 
John Keep and Mr. William Dawes, having obtained for 
them letters of recommendation, and expressions of confi- 
dence in our enterprise, from some of the leading anti- 
15 



338 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

slavery men of the country. They went to England, and laid 
our objects and our wants before the British public. They 
generously responded, and gave us six thousand pounds 
sterling. This very nearly cancelled our indebtedness. 

Our friends, scattered throughout the northern states, 
who were abolitionists and friends of revivals, generously 
aided us to the extent of their ability. But we had to strug- 
gle with poverty and many trials, for a course of years. 
Sometimes we did not know, from day to day, how we were 
to be provided for. But with the blessing of God we helped 
ourselves, as best we could. 

At one time, I saw no means of providing for my family 
through the winter. Thanksgiving day came, and found ua 
so poor that I had been obliged to sell my travelling trunk, 
which I had used in my evangelistic labors, to supply the 
place of a cow which I had lost. I rose on the morning of 
Thanksgiving, and spread our necessities before the Lord, 
[ finally concluded by saying that, if help did not come, I 
should assume that it was best that it should not ; and would 
be entirely satisfied with any course that the Lord would see 
it wise to take. I went and preached, and enjoyed my own 
preaching as well, I think, as I ever did. I had a blessed 
day to my own soul ; and I could see that the people enjoyed 
it exceedingly. 

After the meeting, I was detained a little while in conver- 
sation with some brethren, and my wife returned home. 
When I reached the gate, she was standing in the open door, 
with a letter in her hand. As I approached she smilingly 
eaid, "The answer has come, my dear ;" and handed me the 
letter containing a check from Mr. Josiah Chapin of Provi- 
dence, for two hundred dollars. He had been here the pre- 
vious summer, with his wife. I had said nothing about my 
wants at all, as I never was in the habit of mentioning them 
to anybody. But in the letter containing the check, he said 
he had learned that the endowment fund had failed, and 
tbat I was in want of help. He intimated that I might ex- 



EABXY LABOKS IK OBERLIK. 339 

pect more, from time to time. He continued to send me six 
hundred dollars a year, for several years ; and on this I 
managed to live. 

I should have said that, agreeably to my arrangement in 
New York, I spent my summers at Oberlin, and my winters 
at New York, for two or three years. We had a blessed 
reviving, whenever I returned to preach there. We also had 
a revival here continually. Very few students came here then 
without being converted. But my health soon became such 
that I found, I must relinquish one of these fields of labor 
But the interests connected with the college, seemed to for- 
bid utterly that I should leave it. I therefore took a dis- 
mission from my church in New York, and the winter 
months which I was to have spent in New York, I spent in 
laboring, in various places, to promote revivals of religion. 

The lectures on revivals of religion were preached while 
I was still pastor of the Presbyterian church in Chatham 
street chapel. The two following winters, I gave lectures to 
Christians in the Broadway Tabernacle which were also 
reported by Mr. Leavitt, and published in the New York 
Evangelist. These also have been printed in a volume 
in this country and in Europe. Those sermons to Christians 
were very much the result of a searching that was going on 
in my own mind. I mean that the Spirit of God was show- 
ing me many things, in regard to the question of sanctifica- 
tion, that led me to preach those sermons to Christians. 

Many Christians regarded those lectures as rather an 
exhibition of the Law, than of the Gospel. But I did not, 
and do not, so regard them. For me the Law and Gospel 
have but one rule of life ; and every violation of the spirit 
of the Law, is also a violation of the spirit of the Gospel* 
But I have long been satisfied that the higher forms of 
Christian experience are attained only as a result of a terri- 
bly searching application of God's Law to the human con- 
science and heart. The result of my labors np to that time 
had shown me more clearly than I had known before, the great 



J40 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FINNEY. 

weakness of Christians, and that the older members of the 
church, as a general thing, were making very little progress 
in grace. I found that they would fall back from a revival 
state, even sooner than young converts. It had been so in 
the revival in which I myself was converted. I saw clearly 
that this was owing to their early teaching ; that is, to tha 
views which they had been led to entertain, when they were 
young converts. 

I was also led into a state of great dissatisfaction with 
my own want of stability in faith and love. To be candid, 
and tell the truth, I must say, to the praise of God's grace, 
he did not suffer me to backslide, to anything like the same 
extent to which manifestly many Christians did backslide. 
But I often felt myself weak in the presence of temptation ; 
and needed frequently to hold days of fasting and prayer, 
and to spend much time in overhauling my own religious 
life, in order to retain that communion with God, and that 
hold upon the divine strength, that would enable me effi- 
ciently to labor for the promotion of revivals of religion. 

In looking at the state of the Christian church, as it bad 
been revealed to me in my revival labors, I was led earnestly 
to inquire whether there was not something higher and more 
enduring than the Christian church was aware of ; whether 
there were not promises, and means provided in the Gospel, 
for the establishment of Christians in altogether a higher 
form of Christian life. I had known somewhat of the view 
of sanctification entertained by our Methodist brethren. But 
as their idea of sanctification seemed to me to relate almost 
altogether to states of the sensibility, I could not receive 
their teaching. However, I gave myself earnestly to search 
the Scriptures, and to read whatever came to hand upon the 
subject, until my mind was satisfied that an altogether higher 
and more stable form of Christian life was attainable, and 
was the privilege of all Christians. 

This led me to preach in the Broadway Tabernacle, two 
sermons on Christian perfection. Those sermons are now 



1ABLT LABORS IN OBERLItf. 34\ 

included m the volume of lectures preached to Christians. 
In those sermons I defined what Christian perfection is, and 
endeavored to show that it is attainable in this life, and the 
sense in which it is attainable. But about this time, the 
question of Christian perfection, in the antinomian sense of 
the Lerui, uauiu tu bu agitated a good deal at New Haven, at 
Albany, and somewhat in New York city. I examined 
these views, as published in the periodical entitled "The 
Perfectionist." But I could not accept them. Yet I was 
satisfied that the doctrine of sanctification in this life, and 
entire sanctification, in the sense that it was the privilege of 
Christians to live without known sin, was a doctrine taught 
in the Bible, and that abundant means were provided for the 
securing of that attainment. 

The last winter that I spent in New York, the Lord was 
pleased to visit my soul with a great refreshing. After a 
season of great searching of heart, he brought me, as he has 
often done, into a large place, and gave me much of that 
divine sweetness in my soul, of which President Edwards 
speaks as attained in his own experience. That winter I 
had a thorough breaking up ; so much so that sometimes, 
for a considerable period, I could not refrain from loud weep- 
ing in view of my own sins, and of the love of God in Christ. 
Such seasons were frequent that winter, and resulted in the 
great renewal of my spiritual strength, and enlargement of 
my views in regard to the privileges of Christians, and the 
abundance of the grace of God. * 

It is well known that my views on the question of sanctifi- 
cation have been the subject of a good deal of criticism. To 
be faithful to history, I must say some things that I would 
otherwise pass by in silence. Oberlin College was established 
by Mr. Shipherd, very much against the feelings and wishes 
of the men most concerned in building up Western Reserve 
College, at Hudson. Mr. Shipherd once informed me that 
the principal financial agent of that college asserted to him 
that he would do all he could to put this college down. As 



di"Z MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FLN"NEY. 

soon as they heard, at Hudson, that I had received a call to 
Oberlin, as professor of theology, the trustees elected me as 
professor of "pastoral theology and sacred eloquence," at 
Western Eeserve college ; so that I held the two invitations 
at the same time. I did not, in writing, commit myself to 
either, but came on to survey the ground, and then decide 
upon the path of duty. 

That spring, the general assembly of the Presbyterian 
church held their meeting at Pittsburgh. When I arrived 
at Cleveland, I was informed that two of the professors from 
Hudson, had been waiting at Cleveland for my arrival, de- 
signing to have me go first, at any rate, to Hudson. But I 
had been delayed on Lake Erie by adverse winds ; and the 
brethren who had been waiting for me at Cleveland, had 
gone to be at the opening of the general assembly ; and had 
left word with a brother, to see me immediately on my arri- 
val, and by all means to get me to go to Hudson. But in 
Cleveland I found a letter awaiting me from Arthur Tappan, 
of New York. He had in some way become acquainted 
with the fact that strong efforts were making to induce me 
to go to Hudson, rather than to Oberlin. 

The college at Hudson, at that time, had its buildings 
and apparatus, reputation and influence, and was already 
an established college. Oberlin had nothing. It had no 
permanent buildings, and was composed of a little colony 
settled in the woods ; and just beginning to put up their 
own houses, and clear away the immense forest, and make a 
place for a college. It had, to be sure, its charter, and 
perhaps a hundred students on the ground ; but everything 
was still to be done. This letter of brother Tappan was 
written to put me on my guard against supposing that I 
could be instrumental in securing, at Hudson, what we 
desired to secure at Oberlin. 

I left my family at Cleveland, hired a horse and buggy, 
and came out to Oberlin, without going to Hudson. I 
thought at least that I would see Oberlin first When I ar- 



BARLY LABORS IN OBERLIN. 343 

rived at Elyria, I found some old acquaintances there, whom 
I had known in central New York. They informed me that 
the trustees'of Western Eeserve College thought that, If they 
could secure my presence at Hudson, it would, at least in a 
great measure, defeat Oberlin ; and that at Hudson there 
was an old school influence, of sufficient power to compel me 
to fall in with their views and course of action. This was 
in precise accordance with the information which I had 
received from Mr. Tappan. 

I came to Oberlin, and saw that there was nothing to 
prevent the building up of a college, on the principles that 
seemed to me not only to lie at the foundation of all success 
in establishing a college here at the West, but on princi- 
ples of reform, such as I knew were dear to the hearts of 
those who had undertaken the support and building up of 
Oberlin College. The brethren that were here on the 
ground, were heartily in favor of building up a school on 
radical principles of reform. I therefore wrote to the 
trustees of Hudson, declining to accept their invitation, and 
took up my abode at Oberlin. I had nothing ill to say of 
Hudson, and I knew no ill of it. 

After a year or two, the cry of antinomian perfectionism 
was heard, and this charge brought against us. Letters 
were written, and ecclesiastical bodies were visited, and 
much pains taken to represent our views here as entirely 
heretical. Such representations were made to ecclesiastical 
bodies, throughout the length and breadth of the land, as to 
lead many of them to pass resolutions, warning the churches 
against the influence of Oberlin theology. There seemed to 
be a general union of ministerial influence against us. We 
understood very well here what had set this on foot, and by 
what means all this excitement was raised. But we said 
nothing. We had no controversy with those brethren that, 
we were aware, were taking pains to raise such a powerful 
public sentiment against us. I may not enter into particu 
lars : but suffice it to say, that the weapons that were thus 



MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. EIXKEY. 

formed against us, reacted most disastrously upon those who 
used them, until at length there was a change of nearly all 
the members of the board of trustees and the faculty, at 
Hudson, and the general management of the college fell into 
other hands. 

I scarcely ever heard anything said at Oberlin, at that 
time, against Hudson, or at any time. We kept about our 
own business, and felt that in respect to opposition from that 
quarter, our strength was to sit still ; and we were not mis- 
taken. We felt confident that it was not God's plan to suffer 
such opposition to prevail. I wish to be distinctly under- 
stood, that I am not at all aware that any of the present 
leaders and managers of that college have sympathised with 
what was at that time done, or that they so much as know 
the course that was then taken. 

The ministers, far and near, carried their opposition to a 
great extreme. At that time a convention was called to 
meet at Cleveland, to consider the subject of Western educa- 
tion, and the support of Western colleges. The call had 
been so worded that we went out from Oberlin, expecting 
to take part in the proceedings of the convention. When 
we arrived there, we found Dr. Beecher on the ground ; and 
soon saw that a course of proceedings was on foot, to shut out 
Oberlin brethren, and those that sympathized with Oberlin, 
from the convention. I was therefore not allowed a seat in 
the convention as a member ; yet I attended several of its 
sessions. I recollect hearing it distinctly said, by one of tho 
ministers from the neighborhood, who was there, that he 
regarded Oberlin doctrines and influence as worse than those 
of Roman Catholicism. 

That speech was a representative one, and seemed to be 
about the view that was entertained by that body. I do not 
mean by all of them, by any means. Some who had been 
educated in theology at Oberlin, were so related to tho 
churches and the convention, that they were admitted to 
seats, having come there from different parts of the country. 



EARLY LABORS IK OBEELIK. 345 

These were yery outspoken upon the principles and practices 
of Oberlin, so far as they were called in question. The ob- 
ject of the convention evidently was, to hedge in Oberlin on 
every side, and crush us, by a public sentiment that would 
refuse us all support. But let me be distinctly understood 
to say, that I do not in the least degree blame the members 
of that convention, or but very few of them ; for I knew 
that they had been misled, and were acting under an entire 
misapprehension of the facts. Dr. Lyman Beecher was the 
leading spirit in that convention. 

The policy that we pursued was to let opposition alone. 
We kept about our own business, and always had as many 
students as we knew what to do with. Our hands were 
always full of labor, and we were always greatly encouraged 
in our efforts. 

A few years after the meeting of this convention, one of 
the leading ministers who was there, came and spent a day 
or two at our house. He said to me among other things : 
" Brother Finney, Oberlin is to us a great wonder." Said 
he, " I have, for many years been connected with a college 
as one of its professors. College life and principles, and the 
conditions upon which colleges are built up, are very fami- 
liar to me. We have always thought," said he, "that 
colleges could not exist unless they were patronized by the 
ministry. We knew that young men who were about to go 
to college, would generally consult their pastors, in regard to 
what colleges they should select, and be guided by their 
judgment. Now," said he, "the ministers almost univer- 
sally arrayed themselves against Oberlin. They were de- 
ceived by the cry of antinomian perfectionism, and in 
respect to your views of reform ; and ecclesiastical bodies 
united, far and near, Congregational, and Presbyterian, and 
of all denominations. They warned their churches against 
you, they discouraged young men universally from coming 
to Oberlin, and still the Lord has built you up. You have 
been supported with funds, better than almost any college 
15* 



346 MEMOIRS OF CHAKLES G. FLtftfEY. 

in the West ; you have had by far more students, and the 
blessing of God has been upon you, so that your success 
has 'been wonderful. Now," said he, "this is a perfect 
anomaly in the history of colleges. The opposers of Oberlin 
have been confounded, and God has stood by you, and sus- 
tained you, through all this opposition, so that you have 
hardly felt it." 

It is difficult now for people to realize the opposition 
that we met with, when we first established this college. As 
an illustration of it, and as a representative case, I will 
relate a laughable fact that occurred about the time of which 
I am speaking. I had occasion to go to Akron, to preach 
on the Sabbath. I went with a horse and buggy. On my 
way, beyond the village of Medina, I observed, in the road 
before me, a woman walking with a little bundle in her hand. 
As I drew near her, I observed she was an' elderly woman, 
nicely dressed, but walking, as I thought, with some diffi- 
culty, on account of her age. As I came up to her I reined 
up my horse, and asked her, how far she was going on that 
road. She told me ; and I then asked if she would accept 
a seat in my buggy, and ride. " 0," she replied, ' ' I should 
be very thankfm for a ride, for I find I have undertaken too 
long a walk. " I helped her into my bugg} r , and drove on. 
I found her a very intelligent lady, and very free and home- 
like in her conversation. 

After riding for some distance, she said, " May I ask to 
whom I am indebted for this ride ? " I told her who I was. 
She then inquired from whence I came. I told her I was 
from Oberlin. This announcement startled her. She made 
a motion as if she would sit as far from me as she could ; 
and turning and looking earnestly at me, she said, " From 
Oberlin ! why," said she, "our minister said he would just 
as soon send a son to state-prison as to Oberlin !" Of course 
I smiled and soothed the old lady's fears, if she had any ; 
and made her understand she was in no danger from me. I 
relate this simply as an illustration of the spirit that pre 



XAELT LABORS AT OBERLIN, 341 

vailed very extensively when this college was first established. 
Misrepresentations and misapprehensions abounded on every 
side ; and these misapprehensions extended into almost every 
corner of the United States. 

However there was a great number of laymen, and no 
inconsiderable number of ministers, on the whole, in different 
parts of the country, who had no confidence in this opposi- 
tion ; who sympathized with our aims, our views, our 
efforts, and who stood firmly by us through thick and thin ; 
and knowing, as they did, the straitness to which, for the 
time, we were reduced because of this opposition, they gave 
their money and their influence freely to help us forward. 

I have spoken of Mr. Ohapin, of Providence, as having 
for several years, sent me six hundred dollars a year, on 
which to support my family. When he had done it as long 
as he thought it his duty, — which he did, indeed, until 
financial difficulties rendered it inconvenient for him longer 
to do so ; — Mr. Willard Sears of Boston took his place, and 
for several years suffered me to draw on him for the same 
amount, annually, that Mr. Chapin had paid. In the mean- 
time, efforts were constantly made to sustain the other mem- 
bers of the faculty ; and by the grace of God we rode out 
the gale. After a few years the panic, in a measure, 
subsided. 

President Mahan, Professor Cowles, Professor Morgan, 
and myself, published on the subject of sanctification. We 
established a periodical, "The Oberlin Evangelist," and 
afterwards, "The Oberlin Quarterly," in which we dis- 
abused the public, in a great measure, in regard to what our 
real views were. In 1846, I published two volumes on sys- 
tematic theology ; and in this work I discussed the subject 
of entire sanctification, more at large. After this work was 
published, it was reviewed by a committee of the Presbytery 
of Troy, New York. Then Dr. Hodge of Princeton, pub- 
lished, in the Biblical Eepertory, a lengthy criticism upon 
my theology. This was from the old school stand-point 



348 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES Q. FINNEY. 

Then Dr. Duffield, of the New School Presbyterian Church, 
living at Detroit, reviewed me, professedly from the new 
school stand-point, though his review was far enough from 
consistent new-schoolism. To these different reviews, as 
they appeared, I published replies ; and for many years past, 
go far as I am aware, no disposition has been shown to 
impugn our orthodoxy. 

I have thus far narrated the principal facts connected 
with the establishment and struggles of the school at Oberlin, 
so far as I have been concerned with them. And being the 
professor of theology, the theological opposition was directed, 
of course, principally toward myself ; which has led me, of 
necessity, to speak more freely of my relations to it all, than 
I otherwise should have done. But let me not be misunder- 
stood. I am not contending that the brethren who thus 
opposed were wicked in their opposition. No doubt the 
great mass of them were really misled, and acted according 
to their views of right, as they then understood it. 

I must say, for the honor of the grace of God, that none 
of the opposition that we met with ruffled our spirits here, 
or disturbed us, in such a sense as to provoke us into a spirit 
of controversy or ill feeling. We were well aware of the 
pains that had been taken to lead to these misapprehensions, 
and could easily understand how it was, that we were op- 
posed in the spirit and manner in which we were assailed.. 

During these years of smoke and dust, of misapprehen- 
sion and opposition from without, the Lord was blessing us 
richly within. "We not only prospered in our own souls here, 
as a church, but we had a continuous revival, or were, in 
what might properly be regarded as a revival state. Our 
students were converted by scores ; and the Lord overshad- 
owed us continually with the cloud of his mercy. Gales of 
divine influence swept over us from year to year, producing 
abundantly the fruits of the Spirit "love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
ance, " 



KAJBLT LABOES Iff OBEELIK. 349 

I have always attributed our success in this good work 
entirely to the grace of God. It was no wisdom or good- 
ness of our own that has achieved this success. Nothing 
but continued divine influence, pervading the community, 
sustained us under our trials, and kept us in an attitude of 
mind in which we could be efficient in the work we had 
undertaken. We have always felt that if the Lord withheld 
his Spirit, no outward circumstances could make us truly 
prosperous. 

We have had trials among ourselves. Frequent subjects 
of public discussion have come up ; and we have sometimes 
spent days, and even weeks, in discussing great questions 
of duty and expediency, on which we have not thought 
alike. But these questions have none of them permanently 
divided us. Our principle has been to accord to each other 
the right of private judgment. We have generally come to 
a substantial agreement on subjects upon which we had dif- 
fered ; and when we have found ourselves unable to see alike, 
the minority have submitted themselves to the judgment of 
the majority, and the idea of rending the church to pieces, 
because in some things we could not see alike, has never been 
entertained by us. We have to a very great extent preserved 
" the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ; " and perhaps 
no community has existed for such a length of time, and 
passed through such trials and changes as we have, that has 
on the whole maintained a greater spirit of harmony, Chris- 
tian forbearance, and brotherly love. 

When the question of entire sanctification first came up 
here for public discussion, and when the subject first attracted 
the general attention of the church, we were in the midst of 
a powerful revival. When the revival was going on hope- 
fully, one day President Mahan had been preaching a search- 
ing discourse. I observed in the course of his preaching 
that he had left one point untouched, that appeared to me 
of great importance in that connection. He would often 
ask me, when he closed his sermon, if I had any remarks to 



350 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. PITNEY. 

make, and thus lie did on this occasion. I arose and pressed 
the point that he had omitted. It was the distinction 
between desire and will. From the course of thought he 
had presented, and from the attitude in which I saw that 
the congregation was at the time, I saw, or thought I saw, 
that the pressing of that distinction, just at that point, upon 
the people, would throw much light upon the question 
whether they were really Christians or not, whether they 
were really consecrated persons, or whether they merely had 
desires without being in fact willing to obey God. 

When this distinction was made clear, just in that con- 
nection, I recollect the Holy Spirit fell upon the congrega- 
tion in a most remarkable manner. A large number of 
persons dropped down their heads, and some groaned so 
that they could be heard throughout the house. It cut up 
the false hopes of deceived professors on every side. Several 
arose on the spot, and said that they had been deceived, and 
that they could see wherein ; and this was carried to such 
an extent as greatlyastonished me, and indeed produced a 
general feeling of astonishment, I think, in the con- 
gregation. 

The work went on with power ; and old professors 
obtained new hopes, or were reconverted, in such numbers, 
that a very great and important change came over the whole 
community. President Mahan had been greatly blessed, 
among others, with some of our professors. He came mani- 
festly into an entirely new form of Christian experience, at 
that time. 

In a meeting a few days after this, one of our theological 
students arose, and put the inquiry, whether the Gospel did 
not provide for Christians all the conditions of an es- 
tablished faith, and hope, and love ; whether there was not 
something better and higher than Christians had generally 
experienced ; in short, whether sanctification was not attain- 
able in this life ; that is, sanctification in such a sense that 
Christians could have unbroken peace, and not come into 



EAELY LABOKS IN OBERLItf. 351 

condemnation, or have the feeling of condemnation or a 
consciousness of sin. Brother Mahan immediately an- 
swered, "Yes." What occurred at this meeting, brought 
the question of sanctification prominently before us, as a 
practical question: We had no theories on the subject, no 
philosophy to maintain, but simply took it up as a Bible 
question. 

In this form it existed among us, as an experimental 
truth, which we did not attempt to reduce to a theological 
formula ; nor did we attempt to explain its philosophy, 
until years afterwards. But the discussion of this question 
was a great blessing to us, and to a great number of our 
students, who are now scattered in various parts of the 
country, or have gone abroad as missionaries to differen* 
parts of the world. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

LABORS IN BOSTON AND PROVIDENCE. 

BEFOKE I return to my revival record, in order to give 
some idea of the relation of things, I must dwell a lit- 
tle more upon the progress of the anti-slavery, or abolition 
movement, not only at Oberlin, but elsewhere, as connected 
with my own labors. I have spoken of the state of public 
feeling on this subject, all around us, and have mentioned 
that even the legislature of the state, at that time democratic, 
endeavored to find some pretext for repealing our charter, 
because of our anti-slavery sentiments and action. It was 
at first reported on every side of us, that we intended to en- 
courage marriage between colored and white students, and 
even to compel them to intermarry ; and that our object was 
to introduce a universal system of miscegenation. A little fact 
will illustrate the feeling that existed among many people in 
the neighborhood. I had occasion to ride out a few miles, 
60on after we came, and called upon a farmer on some errand 
He looked very sullen and suspicious, when he found who 1 
was, and from whence I came ; and intimated to me that he 
did not want to have anything to do with the people of 
Oberlin ; that our object was to introduce amalgamation of 
the races, and compel the white and colored students to 
intermarry; that we also intended to bring about the 
union of church and state, and that our ideas and projects 
were altogether revolutionary and abominable. He was 
quite in earnest about this. But the thing was so ridiculous, 
that I knew that if I attempted a serious answer, I should 
laugh him in the face. 

We had reason, at an early day, for apprehension that a 



LABORS IK BOSTON. 353 

mob from a neighboring town would come and destroy ou: 
buildings. But we had not been here long, before circum- 
stances occurred that created a reaction in the public mind. 
This place became one of the points on " the underground 
railroad," as it has since been called, where escaped slaves, on 
their way to Canada, would take refuge for a day or two, 
until the way was open for them to proceed. Several cases 
occurred in which these fugitives were pursued by slave- 
holders ; and a hue and cry was raised, not only in this 
neighborhood, but in the neighboring towns, by their 
attempting to carry the slaves back into slavery. Slave- 
catchers found no practical sympathy among the people ; and 
scenes like these soon aroused public feeling in the towns 
around about, and began to produce a reaction. It set the 
farmers and people around us to study more particularly 
into our aims and views, and our school soon became 
known and appreciated ; and it has resulted in a state of 
universal confidence and good feeling between 'Oberlin and 
the surrounding region. 

In the meantime, the excitement on the subject of slavery 
was greatly agitating the Eastern cities, as well as the West 
and the South. Our friend, Mr. Willard Sears, of Boston 
was braving a tempest of opposition there. And in order to 
open the way for a free discussion on that subject in Boston, 
and for the establishment of religious worship, where a pul- 
pit should be open to the free discussion of all great ques- 
tions of reform, he had purchased the Marlborough hotel on 
"Washington street, and had connected with it a large chapel 
for public worship, and for reform meetings, that could not 
find an entrance anywhere else. This he had done at great 
expense. In 1842, I was strongly urged to go and occupy the 
Marlborough chapel, and preach for a few months. I went 
and began my labors, and preached with all my might for 
two months. The Spirit of the Lord was immediately 
poured out, and there was a general agitation among the 
dry bones, I was visited at my room almost constantly, dur- 



354 MEMOIRS OE CHARLES G. EIHKEY. 

ing every day of the week, by inquirers from all parts of tha 
city, and many were obtaining hopes from day to day. 

At this time Elder Knapp, the well known Baptist re- 
vivalist, was laboring in Providence, but under much oppo- 
sition. He was invited by the Baptist brethren at Boston to 
come and labor there. He therefore left Providence and 
came to Boston. At the same time, Mr. Josiah Cbapin and 
many others, were insisting very strongly upon my coming 
and holding meetings in Providence. I felt very much 
indebted to Mr. Chapin for what he had done for Oberlin, 
and for myself personally. It was a great trial for me to 
leave Boston, at this time. However, after seeing brother 
Knapp and informing him of the state of things, I left and 
went to Providence. This was the time of the great revival 
in Boston. It prevailed wonderfully, especially among the 
Baptists, and more or less throughout the city. The Bap- 
tist ministers took hold with brother Knapp, and many 
Congregational brethren were greatly blessed, and the work 
was very extensive. 

In the meantime, I commenced my labors in Providence. 
The work began almost immediately, and the interest visi- 
bly increased from day to day. There were many striking 
cases of conversion ; among them was an elderly gentleman 
whose name I do not recollect. His father had been a Judge 
of the supreme court in Massachusetts, if I mistake not, 
many years before. This old gentleman lived not far from 
the church where I was holding my meetings, in High street. 
After the work had gone on for some time, I observed a very 
venerable looking gentleman come into meeting, who paid 
very strict attention to the preaching. My friend, Mr. 
Chapin, immediately noticed him ; and informed me who he 
was, and what his religious views were. He said he had 
never been in the habit of attending religious meetings ; and 
he expressed a very great interest in the man, and in the 
fact that he had been drawn out to meeting. I observed 
that he continued, night after night, to come ; and could 



LABOKS IN" PROVIDENCE. 355 

easily perceive, as I thought, that his mind was very much 
agitated, and deeply interested on the question of religion. 

One evening as I came to the close of my sermon, this 
venerable looking man rose up, and asked if he might ad- 
dress a few words to the people. I replied in the affirma- 
tive. He then spoke in substance as follows : ' ' My friends 
and neighbors, you are probably surprised to see me attend 
these meetings. You have known my sceptical views, and 
that I have not been in the habit of attending religious 
meetings, for a long time. But hearing of the state of things 
in this congregation, I came in here ; and I wish to have my 
friends and neighbors know that I believe that the preaching 
we are hearing, from night to night, is the Gospel. I have 
altered my mmd," said he. " I believe this is the truth, and 
the true way of salvation. I say this," he added, "that you 
may understand my real motive for coming here ; that it is 
not to criticise and find fault, but to attend to the great 
question of salvation, and to encourage others to attend to 
it." He said this with much emotion, and sat down. 

There was a very large Sabbath-school room in the base- 
ment of the church. The number of inquirers had become 
too large, and the congregation too much crowded, to call 
the inquirers forward, as I had done in some places ; and I 
therefore requested them to go down, after the blessing was 
pronounced, to the lecture-room below. The room was 
nearly as large as the whole audience room of the church, 
and would seat nearly as many, aside from the gallery. The 
work increased, and spread in every part of the city, until 
the number of inquirers became so great, together with the 
young converts, who were always ready to go below with 
them, as nearly or quite to fill that large room. From night 
to night, after preaching, that room would be filled with re- 
joicing young converts, and trembling, inquiring sinners. 
This state of things continued for two months. I was then, 
as I thought, completely tired out ; having labored inces- 
santly for four months, two in Boston, and two in Providence, 



356 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

Beside, the time of year had come, or nearly come, for the 
opening of our spring term in Oberlin. I therefore took 
my leave of Providence, and started for home. 

There was one circumstance which occurred in Boston, 
that I think it my duty to relate. A Unitarian woman had 
been converted in Boston, who was an acquaintance of the 

Eev. Dr. . Hearing of her conversion, Dr. C , as 

she informed me, sent for her to visit him, as he was in 
feeble health, and could not well call on her. She complied 
with his request, and he wished her to tell him the exercises 
of her mind, and her Christian experience, and the circum- 
stances of her conversion. She did so, and the doctor mani- 
fested a great interest in her change of mind ; and inquired 
of her if she had anything that I had written and published, 
that he could read. She told him that she had a little work 
of mine, which had been published, on the subject of sanc- 
tification. He borrowed it, and told her that he would read 
it ; and if she would call again in a week, he should be happy 
to have farther conversation with her. At the close of the 
week, she returned for her book, and the doctor said, " I am 
very much interested in this book, and in the views that are 
here set forth. I understand," says he, "that the orthodox 
object to this view of sanctification, as it is presented by Mr. 
Finney ; but I cannot see, if Christ is divine and truly God, 
why this view should be objected to ; nor can I see any in- 
consistency, in holding this as a part of the orthodox faith. 
Yet I should like to see Mr. Finney. Cannot you persuade 
him to call on me ? for I cannot go and see him." She 
called at my lodgings ; but I had left Boston for Providence, 
After an absence of two months, I was again in Boston, and 
this lady called immediately to see me, and gave me the in- 
formation which I have related. But he had then gone into 
the country, on account of his health. I greatly regretted 
not having an opportunity to see him. But he died shortly 
after, and of his subsequent religious history I know noth- 
ing. Nor can I vouch for the truth of what this lady said. 



LABORS IK PROTIDEKCE. 35? 

She was manifestly honest in her communication ; and I had 
no doubt that every word she told me was true. But she 
was a strarjger to me, and I cannot recollect her name at this 
distance of time. The next time I met Dr. Beecher, Dr. 

C 's name was mentioned, and I related to him this fact. 

The tears started in his eyes, in a moment, and he said v^th 
much emotion, " I guess he has gone to heavoiv 1 n 



CHAPTER XXVL 

THE REVIVAL IK ROCHESTER, IK 1842. 

AFTER resting a day or two in Boston, I left for home. 
Being very weary with labor and travel, I called on a 
friend at Rochester, to take a day's rest before proceeding 
farther. As soon as it was known that I was in Rochester, 
Judge G called on me, and with much earnestness, re- 
quested me to stop and preach. Some of the ministers also, 
insisted upon my stopping, and preaching for them. I in- 
formed them that I was worn out, and the time had come 
for me to be at home. However, they were very urgent, and 
especially one of the ministers, whose wife was one of my 

spiritual daughters, the Sarah B , of whom I have spoken, 

as having been converted in Western. I finally consented to 
stop, and preach a sermon or two, and did so. But this 
Drought upon me a more importunate invitation, to remain 
and hold a series of meetings. I decided to remain, and, 
though wearied, went on with the work. 

Mr. George S. Boardman was pastor of what was then 
called, the Bethel, or Washington street church ; and 
Mr. Shaw, of the Second or Brick church. Mr. Shaw was 
veiy anxious to unite with Mr. Boardman, and have the 
meetings at their churches alternately. Mr. Boardman was 
indisposed to take this course, saying that his congregation 
was weak, and needed the concentration of my labors at that 
point. I regretted this ; but still I could not overrule it, and 
went on with my labors at the Bethel, or Washington street 
church. Soon after, Dr. Shaw secured the labors of Rev. 
Jedediah Burcliard in his church, and undertook a protracted 
effort there 



BEYIYAL Lff BOCHESTEB, 359 

In the meantime, Judge G- had united with other 

members of the bar in a written request to me to preach a 
course of sermons to lawyers, adapted to their ways of think- 
ing. Judge G was then one of the judges of the court 

of appeals in the state, and held a very high place in the 
estimation of the whole profession. I consented to deliver 
the course of lectures. I was aware of the half sceptical 
state of mind in which those members of the bar were, many 
of them at least, who were still unconverted. There was 
btill left in the city a goodly number of pious lawyers, who 
had been converted in the revival of 1830 and '31. 

I began my course of lectures to lawyers, by asking this 
question : " Do we know anything ? " and followed up the 
inquiry by lecturing, evening after evening. My congrega- 
tion became very select. Brother Burchard's meetings 
opened an interesting place for one class of the community, 
and made more room for the lawyers, and those especially 
attracted by my course of lectures, in the house where I was 
preaching. It was completely filled, every night. As I pro- 
ceeded in my lectures, from night to night, I observed the 
interest constantly deepening. 

As Judge G 's wife was a particular friend of mine, I 

had occasion to see him not unfrequently, and was very sure 
that the word was getting a strong hold of him. He re- 
marked to me after I had delivered several lectures, " Mr. 
Finney, you have cleared the ground to my satisfaction, thus 
far ; but when you come to the question of the endless pun- 
ishment of the wicked, you will slip up ; you will fail to con- 
vince us on that question." I replied, "Wait and see, 
Judge." This hint made me the more careful, when I came 
to that point, to discuss it with all thoroughness. The next 
day I met him, and he volunteered the remark at once, 
" Mr. Finney, I am convinced. Your dealing with that sub- 
ject was a success ; nothing can be said against it." The man- 
ner in which he said this, indicated that the subject had not 
merely convinced his intellect, but had deeply impressed him. 



360 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. EINtfEY. 

I was going on from night to night, but had not thought 
my somewhat new and select audience yet prepared for me 
to call for any decision, on the part of inquirers. But I had 
arrived at a point where I thought it was time to draw the 
net ashore. I had been carefully* laying it around the whole 
mass of lawyers, and hedging them in, as I supposed, by a 
train of reasoning that they could not resist. I was 
aware that lawyers are accustomed to listen to argument, 
to feel the weight of a logically presented truth ; anvl had no 
doubt that the great majority of them were thoroughly con- 
vinced, as far as I had gone ; consequently I had prepared a 
discourse, which I intended should bring them to the point, 
and if it appeared to take effect, I intended to call on them 

to commit themselves. Judge G , at the time I was 

there before, when his wife was converted, had opposed the 
anxious seat. I expected he would do so again, as I knew 
he had strongly committed himself, in what he had said, 
against the use of the anxious seat. When I came to preach 
the sermon of which I have spoken, I observed that Judge 

G was not in the seat he had usually occupied ; and on 

looking around I could not see him anywhere among the 
members of the bar or the judges. I felt concerned about 
this, for I had prepared myself with reference to his case. 
I knew his influence was great, and that if he would take a 
decided stand, it would have a very great influence upon all 
the legal profession in the city. However I soon observed 
that he had come into the gallery, and had found a seat just 
at the head of the gallery stairs, where he sat wrapped in 
his cloak. I went on with my discourse ; but near the close 

of what I designed to say, I observed that Judge G had 

gone from his seat. I felt distressed, for I concluded that, 
ap it was cold where he sat, and perhaps there was some 
confusion, it being near the head of the stairs, he had gone 
home ; and hence that the sermon which I had prepared 
with my eye upon him, had failed of its effect. 

From the basement room of the church, there .vas a nar- 



BEV1YAL IK EOCHESTEE. 361 

row stairway into the audience-room above, coming up just 
by the side of, and partly behind, the pulpit. Just as I was 
drawing my sermon to a close, and with my heart almost 
sinking with the fear that I was to fail, in what I had hoped 
to secure that night, I felt some one pulling at the skirt of 

my coat. I looked around, and there was Judge G . He 

liad gone down through the 'basement room, and up those 
narrow stairs, and crept up the pulpit steps, far enough to 
reach me, and pull me by the coat. When I turned around 
to him, and beheld him with great surprise, he said to me, 
" Mr. Finney, won't you pray for me by name ? and I will 
take the anxious seat." I had said nothing about an anxious 
seat at all. The congregation had observed this movement 

on the part of Judge G , as he came up on the pulpit 

stairs ; and when I announced to them what he said, it pro- 
duced a wonderful shock. There was a great gush of feeling, 
in every part of the house. Many held down their heads 
and wept ; others seemed to be engaged in earnest prayer. 
He crowded around in front of the pulpit, and knelt imme- 
diately down. The lawyers arose almost en masse, and 
crowded into the aisles, and filled the open space in front, 
wherever they could get a place to kneel. The movement 
had begun without my requesting it ; but I then publicly 
invited any, who were prepared to renounce their sins, and 
give their hearts to God, and to accept Christ and his salva- 
tion, to come forward, into the aisles, or wherever they could, 
and kneel down. There was a mighty movement. We 
prayed, and then I dismissed the meeting. 

As I had been preaching every night, and could not give 
ap an evening to a meeting of inquiry, I appointed a meet- 
ing for the instruction of inquirers, the next day at two 
D'clock, in the basement of the church. When I went, I was 
surprised to find the room nearly full, and that the audience 
was composed almost exclusively of the more prominent 
citizens. This meeting I continued from day to day, having 
an opportunity to converse freely, with great numbers ; an^ 



363 MEMOIRS OF CHAKLES G. FltfffET. 

they were as teachabla as children. I never attended a 
more interesting and affecting meeting of inquiry, I think, 
than that. A large number of the lawyers were converted, 

Judge G , I might say, at their head • as he had taken 

the lead in coming out on the side of Christ 

I remained there, at that time, two months. The revival 
became wonderfully interesting and powerful, and resulted 
in the conversion of great numbers. It took a powerful 
hold in one of the Episcopal churches, St. Luke's, of which 
Dr. Whitehouse, the present bishop of Illinois, was pastor. 
When I was in Heading, Pa., several years before, Dr. White- 
house was preaching to an Episcopal congregation in that 
city ; and, as one of his most intelligent ladies informed me, 
was greatly blessed in his soul, in that revival. When I came 
to Kochester, in 1830, he was the pastor of St. Luke's ; and, 
as I was informed, encouraged his people to attend our meet- 
ings, and I was told that many of them were at that time 
converted. So also in this revival, in 1842, I was informed 
that he encouraged his people, and advised them to attend the 
meetings. He was himself a very successful pastor, and had 
great influence in Rochester. I have been informed that in 
this revival, in 1842, not less than seventy, and those almost 
all among the principal people of his congregation, were 
converted, and confirmed in his church. 

One striking incident I must mention. I had insisted 
much, in my instructions, upon entire consecration to God, 
giving up all to him, body, and soul, and possessions, anc" 
everything, to be forever thereafter use<J for his glory, as a 
condition of acceptance with God. As was my custom in 
revivals, I made this as prominent as I well could. One day 
as I went into meeting, one of the lawyers with whom I had 
formed some acquaintance, and who had been in deep 
anxiety of mind, I found waiting at the door of the church. 
As I went in, he took out of his pocket a paper, and handed 
me, remarking, f * I deliver this to you as the servant of the 
Lord Jesus Christ." I put it in my pocket until af-er meet- 



EEVIVAL Itf EOCHESTEE. 363 

ing. On examining it, I found it to be a quit-claim deed, 
made out in regular order, and executed ready for delivery, 
in which he quit-claimed to the Lord Jesus Christ all owner- 
ship of himself, and of everything he possessed. The deed 
was in due form, with all the peculiarities and formalities of 
such conveyances. I think I have it still among my papers. 
He appeared to be in solemn earnest, and so far as I could 
see, was entirely intelligent in what he did. But I must not 
go farther into particulars. 

As it regards the means used in this revival, I would say, 
chat the doctrines preached were those that I always preached, 
everywhere. The moral government of God was made 
prominent ; and the necessity of an unqualified and uni- 
versal acceptance of God's will, as a rule of life ; the accept- 
ance by faith, of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the 
world, and in all his official relations and work ; and the 
sanctification of the soul through or by the truth. These and 
kindred doctrines were dwelt upon as time would permit, 
and as the necessities of the people seemed to require. 

The measures were simply preaching the gospel, and 
abundant prayer, in private, in social circles, and in public 
prayer-meetings ; much stress being always laid upon prayer 
as an essential means of promoting the revival. Sinners 
were not encouraged to expect the Holy Ghost to convert 
them, while they were passive ; and never told to wait G od's 
time, but were taught, unequivocally, that their first and 
immediate duty was, to submit themselves to God, to re- 
nounce their own will, their own way, and themselves, and 
instantly to deliver up all that they were, and all that they 
had, to their rightful owner, the Lord Jesus Christ. They 
were taught here, as everywhere in those revivals, that the 
only obstacle in the way was their own stubborn will ; that 
God was trying to gain their unqualified consent to give up 
their sins, and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their right- 
eousness and salvation. The point was frequently urged 
upon them to give their consent ; and they were told that 



3(J4 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. F1JSHEI. 

the only difficulty was, to get their own honest and earnest 
consent to the terms upon which Christ would save them, 
and the lowest terms upon which they possibly could be 
saved. 

Meetings of inquiry were held, for the purpose of adapt* 
ing instruction to those who were in different stages of con- 
viction ; and after conversing with them, as long as I had 
time and strength, I was in the habit of summing up at last, 
and taking up representative cases, and meeting all their 
objections, answering all their questions, correcting all their 
errors, and pursuing such a course of remark, as was calcu- 
lated to strip them of every excuse, and bring them face to 
face with the great question of present, unqualified, univer- 
sal acceptance of the will of God in Christ Jesus. Faith in 
God, and God in Christ, was ever made prominent. They 
were informed that this faith is not a mere intellectual assent, 
but is the consent or trust of the heart, a voluntary, intelli- 
gent trust in God, as he is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The doctrine of the justice of endless punishment was 
fully insisted upon ; and not only its justice, but the cer- 
tainty that sinners will be endlessly punished, if they die in 
their sins, was strongly held forth. On all these points the 
Gospel was so presented as to give forth no uncertain sound. 
This was at least my constant aim, and the aim of all who 
gave instructions. The nature of the sinner's dependence 
upon divine influence, was explained, and enforced, and 
made prominent. Sinners were taught that, without the 
divine teaching and influence, it is certain, from their 
depraved state, that they never would be reconciled to God ; 
and yet that their want of reconciliation was simply their 
own hardness of heart, or the stubbornness of their own 
wills, so that their dependence upon the Spirit of God is 
no excuse for their not being Christians at once. These 
points that I have noticed, ar'd others which logically flow 
from them, were held forth in every aspect, so far as time 
would permit. 



BEVIVAL IN ROCHESTER 365 

Sinners were never taught, in those revivals, that they 
needed to expect conversion in answer to their own prayers. 
They were told that if they regarded iniquity in their hearts, 
the Lord would not hear them ; and that while they re- 
mained impenitent, they did regard iniquity in their hearts. 
I do uot mean that they were exhorted not to pray. They 
nere informed that God required them to pray, but to praj 
in faith, to pray in the spirit of repentance ; and that when 
they asked God to forgive them, they were to commit them- 
selves unalterably to his will. They were taught, expressly, 
that mere impenitent and unbelieving prayer is an 
abomination to God ; but that if they were truly disposed 
to offer acceptable prayer to God, they could do it ; for that 
there was nothing but their own obstinacy in the way of 
their offering acceptable prayer at once. They were never 
left to think that they could do their duty in any respect, 
could perform any duty whatever, unless they gave their 
hearts to God. To repent, to believe, to submit, as inward 
acts of the mind, were the first duties to be performed * and 
until these were performed, no outward act whatever was 
doing their duty. That for them to pray for a new heart, 
while they did not give themselves up to God, was to tempt 
God ; that to pray for forgiveness until they truly repented, 
was to insult God, and to ask him to do what he had no 
right to do ; that to pray in unbelief, was to charge God 
with lying, instead of doing their duty ; and that all their 
unbelief was nothing but a blasphemous charging of God 
with lying. In short, pains were taken to shut the sinner 
up to accepting Christ, his whole will, atonement, official 
work and official relations, cordially, and with fixed purpose 
of heart, renouncing all sin, all excuse making, all unbelief, 
all hardness of heart, and every wicked thing, in heart, and 
life, here, and now, and forever. 

I have always been particularly interested in the salva- 
tion of lawyers, and of all men of the legal profession. 
To that profession I was myself educated. I understood 



666 MEMOIKS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

pretty well their habits of reading and thinking, and knew 
that they were more certainly controlled by argument, by 
evidence, and by logical statements, than any other class of 
men. I have always found, wherever I have labored, that 
when the Gospel was properly presented, they were the most 
accessible class of men ; and I believe it is true that, in pro- 
portion to their relative number, in any community, more 
have been converted, than of any other class. I have been 
particularly struck with this, in the manner in which a clear 
presentation of the Law and of the Gospel of God, will carry 
the intelligence of judges, men who are in the nabit of sit- 
ting and hearing testimony, and weighing arguments on both 
sides. I have never, to my recollection, seen a case, in which 
judges were not convinced of the truth of the Gospel, where 
they have attended meetings, in the revivals which I have 
witnessed. I have often been very much affected, in convers- 
ing with members of the legal profession, by the manner in 
which they would consent to propositions, to which persons 
of ill-disciplined minds would have objected. 

There was one of the judges of the court of appeals, liv- 
ing in Eochester, who seemed to be possessed of a chronic 
scepticism. He was a reader and a thinker, a man of great 
refinement, and of great intellectual honesty. His wife, 
having experienced religion under my ministry, was a par- 
ticular friend of mine. I have had very thorough conversa- 
tion with that man. He always freely confessed to me that 
the arguments were conclusive, and that his intellect was 
carried, by the preaching and the conversation. He said to 
me, " Mr. Finney, you always in your public discourses 
carry me right along with you ; but while I assent to the 
truth of all that you say, I do not feel right ; somehow my 
heart does not respond." He was one of the loveliest of un- 
converted men, and it was both a grief and a pleasure to 
converse with him. His candor and intelligence made con- 
versation with him, on religious subjects, a great pleasure ; 
but his chronic unbelief rendered it exceedingly painful. I 



EEVIVAL LS EOCHBSTBR, 367 

haye conversed with him more than once, when his whole 
mind seemed to be agitated to its lowest depths. And yet, 
so far as I know, he has never been converted. His praying 
and idolized wife has gone to her grave. His only child, a son, 
was drowned before his eyes. After these calamities had be- 
fallen him, I wrote him a letter, referring to some conversa- 
tions I had had with him, and trying to win him to a source 
from which he could get consolation. He replied in all kind- 
ness ; but dwelling upon his loss, he said, there could be no 
consolation that could meet a case like that. He was truly 
blind to all the consolation he could find in Christ. He 
could not conceive how he could ever accept this dispensa- 
tion, and be happy. He has lived in Rochester, through one 
great revival after another ; and although his mouth was 
shut, so that he had no excuse to make, and no refuge to 
which he could betake himself, still so far as I know, he has 
mysteriously remained in unbelief. I have mentioned his 
case, as an illustration of the manner in which the intelli- 
gence of the legal profession can be carried, by the force of 
truth. "When I come to speak of the next revival in Ro- 
chester, in which I had a share, I shall have occasion to men- 
tion other instances that will illustrate the same point. 

Several of the lawyers that were at this time converted 
in Rochester, gave up their profession and went into the 

ministry. Among these was one of Chancellor W 's sons, 

at that time a young lawyer in Rochester, and who appeared 
at the time to be soundly converted. For some reason, with 
which I am not acquainted, he went to Europe and to Rome, 
and finally became a Roman Catholic priest. He has been 
for years laboring zealously to promote revivals of religion 
among them, holding protracted meetings ; and, as he told 
me himself, when I met him in England, trying to accom- 
plish in the Roman Catholic church what I was endeavor- 
ing to accomplish in the Protestant church. Mr. W 

seems to be an earnest minister of Christ, given up, heart 
and soul, to the salvation of Roman Catholics. How far he 



368 MEMOIRS OV CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

agrees with all their views, I cannot say. When I was in 
England, he was there, and sought me out, and came very 
affectionately to see me ; and we had just as pleasant an 
interview, so far as I know, as we should have had, if we 
had both been Protestants. He said nothing of his peculiar 
views, but only that he was laboring among the Soman 
Catholics, to promote revivals of religion. Many ministers 
have been the fruits of the great revivals in Rochester. 

It was a fact that often greatly interested me, when labor- 
ing in that city, that lawyers would come to my room, when 
they were pressed hard, and were on the point of submission, 
for conversation and light, on some point which they did not 
clearly apprehend ; and I observed, again and again, that 
when those points were cleared up, they were ready at once 
to submit. Indeed, as a general thing, they take a more 
intelligent view of the whole plan of salvation, than any other 
class of men to whom I have ever preached, or with whom I 
have ever conversed. 

Very many physicians have also been converted, in the 
great revivals which I have witnessed. I think their studies 
incline them to scepticism, or to a form of materialism. Yet 
they are intelligent ; and if the Gospel is thoroughly set before 
them, stripped of those peculiar features which are embodied 
in hyper-calvinism, they are easily convinced, and as readily 
converted, as any other class of the people. Their studies, 
as a general thing, have not prepared them so readily to 
apprehend the moral government of God, as those of the 
legal profession. But still I have found them open to con- 
viction, and by no means a difficult class of persons to deal 
with, upon the great question of salvation. 

I have everywhere found, that the peculiarities of hyper- 
calvinism have been a great stumbling-block, both of the 
church and of the world. A nature sinful in itself, a totai 
inability to accept Christ, and to obey God, condemnation to 
eternal death for the sin of Adam, and for a sinful nature, 
and all the kindred and resultant dogmas of that peculiar 



REVIVAL IN ROCHESTER. 369 

school, have been the stumbling-block of believers and the 
ruin of sinners. 

Universalisni, Unitarianism, and indeed all forms of fun- 
damental error, have given way and fallen out of sight in the 
presence of great revivals. I have learned, again and again, 
that a mau needs only to be thoroughly convicted of sin by 
the Holy Ghost, to give up at once and forever, and gladly 
give up, Universalism and Unitarianism. When I speak of 
the next great revival in Eochester, I shall have occasion to 
speak more fully of the manner in which sceptics, if a right 
course is taken with them, are sometimes shut up to condem- 
nation, by their own irresistible convictions ; so that they will 
rejoice to find a door of mercy opened through the revela- 
tions that are made in the Scriptures. But this I leave to 
be hitroduced in the proper order. 



CHAPTER XXVH 

ANOTHER WINTER IN BOSTON. 

IN the fall of 1843, I was called again to Boston. At my 
last visit there, it was the time of the greatest excitement 
in Boston, on the subject of the second advent of Christ. 
Mr. Miller, who was at the head of the movement, was there 
lecturing, and was holding daily Bible classes, in which he 
was giving instruction, and inculcating his peculiar views ; 
and his teaching led to intense excitement, involving much 
that was wild and irrational. I attended Mr. Miller's Bible 
class once or twice ; after which I invited him to my room, 
and tried to convince him that he was in error. I called his 
attention to the construction which he put on the prophecies ; 
and, as I thought, showed him that he was entirely mistaken, 
in some of his fundamental views. He replied, that I had 
adopted a course of investigation that would detect his errors, 
if he had any. I tried to show him that his fundamental 
error was already detected. 

The last time that I had attended his Bible class, he was 
inculcating the doctrine that Christ would come personally, 
and destroy his enemies, in 1843. He gave what he called an 
exposition of the prophecy of Daniel, on the subject. He 
said, the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, that 
rolled down and destroyed the image there spoken of, was 
Christ. When he came to my room I called his attention to 
the fact, that the prophet affirmed expressly that the stone 
was not Christ, but the kingdom of God ; and that the 
prophet there represented the church, or the kingdom of 
God, as demolishing the image. This was so plain, that Mr, 
Miller was obliged to acknowledge that that was indeed a 



ANOTHER WINTER IN BOSTON. 371 

fact ; and that it was not Christ that was going to destroy 
those nations, but the kingdom of God. I then asked him 
if he supposed that the kingdom of God would destroy those 
nations, in the sense in which he taught that they would be 
destroyed, with the sword, or with making war upon them ? 
He said, no, he could not believe that. I then inquired, 
::t Is it not the overthrow of the governments that is intended, 
instead of the destruction of the people ? and is not this to 
be done, by the influence of the church of God, in enlighten- 
ing their minds by the Gospel ? And if this is the meaning, 
where is the foundation for your teaching, that, at a certain 
time, Christ is coming in person to destroy all the peoples 
of the earth ?" I said to him, "Now this is fundamental 
to your teaching. This is the great point to which you call 
attention in your classes ; and here is a manifest error, the 
very words of the prophet teaching the direct opposite ta 
what you teach." But it was vain to reason with him, and 
his followers, at that time. Believing, as they most certainly 
did, that the advent of Christ was at hand, it was no wonder 
that they were too wild with excitement, to be reasoned with 
to any purpose. 

When I arrived there, in the fall of 1843, I found that 
that particular form of excitement had blown over ; but 
many forms of error prevailed among the people. Indeed I 
have found that to be true of Boston, of which Dr. Beecher 
assured me, the first winter that I labored there. He said to 
me, "Mr. Finney, you cannot labor here as you do any- 
where else. You have got to pursue a different course of 
instruction, and begin at the foundation ; for Unitarianism 
is a system of denials, and under its teaching, the founda- 
tions of Christianity are fallen away. You cannot take any- 
thing for granted ; for the Unitarians and the Universalists 
have destroyed the foundations, and the people are all afloat. 
The masses have no settled opinions, and every *lo here,' or 
*lo there,' finds a hearing; and almost any conceivable 
form of error may get a footing." 



372 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

I have since found this to be true, to a greater extent than 
in any other field, in which I have ever labored. The masa 
of the people in Boston are more unsettled in their religious 
convictions than in any other place that I have ever labored 
in, notwithstanding their intelligence ; for they are surely a 
very intelligent people, on all questions but that of religion. 
It is extremely difficult to make religious truths lodge in 
their minds, because the influence of Unitarian teaching has 
been, to lead them to call in question all the principal doc- 
trines of the Bible. Their system is one of denials. Their 
theology is negative. They deny almost everything, and 
affirm almost nothing. In such a field, error finds the ears of 
the people open ; and the most irrational views, on religious 
subjects, come to be held by a great many people. 

I began my labors in the Marlborough chapel at this time, 
and found there a very singular state of things. A church 
had been formed, composed greatly of radicals ; and most 
of the members held extreme views on various subjects. 
They had come out from other orthodox churches, and 
united in a church of their own, at Marlborough chapel. 
They were staunch, and many of them consistent, reformers, 
They were good people ; but I cannot say that they were a 
united people. Their extreme views seemed to be an ele- 
ment of mutual repellence among them. Some of them 
were extreme non-resistants, and held it to be wrong to use 
any physical force, or any physical means whatever, even in 
controlling their own children. Everything must be done 
by moral suasion. Upon the whole, however, they were a 
praying, earnest, Christian people. I found no particular 
difficulty in getting along with them ; but at that time the 
Miller excitement, and various other causes, had been oper- 
ating to beget a good deal of confusion among them. They 
*rere not at all in a prosperous state, as a church. 

A young man by the name of S had risen up among 

them, who professed to be a prophet. I had many conversa- 
tions with him, and tried to convince him that he was al] 



ANOTHER WIKTEB IK BOSTON. 873 

wrong ; and I labored with, his followers, to try to make them 
see that he was wrong. However, I found it impossible to 
do anything with him, or with them, until he finally com- 
mitted himself on several points, and predicted that certain 
things would happen, at certain dates. One was that his 
father would die on a certain day. I then said to him : 
' * Now we shall prove you. Now the truthfulness of your 
pretensions will be tested. If these things that you predict 
come to pass, and come to pass, as you say they will, at cer- 
tain times, then we shall have reason to believe that you are 
a prophet. But if they do not come to pass, it will prove 
that you are deceived." This he could not deny. As the 
good providence of God would have it, these predictions 
related to events but a few weeks from the time the predic- 
tions were uttered. He had staked his reputation as a 
prophet, upon the truth of these predictions, and awaited 
their fulfilment Of course they every one of them failed, 
and he failed with them ; I never heard anything more of his 
predictions. But he had confused a good many minds, and 
really neutralized their efforts; and I am not aware that 
those who were his followers, ever regained their former in- 
fluence as Christians. 

During this winter, the Lord gave my own soul a very 
thorough overhauling, and a fresh baptism of his Spirit. 1 
boarded at the Marlborough hotel, and my study and bed- 
room were in one corner of the chapel building. My mind 
was greatly drawn out in prayer, for a long time ; as indeed 
it always has been, when I have labored in Boston. I have 
been favored there, uniformly, with a great deal of the spirit 
of prayer. But this winter, in particular, my mind was ex- 
ceedingly exercised on the question of personal holiness ; 
and in respect to the state of the church, their want of 
power with God ; the weakness of the orthodox churches in 
Boston, the weakness of their faith, and their want of power 
in the midst of such a community. The fact that they were 



374 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLUKEY. 

making little or no progress in overcoming theerrcis of that 
city, greatly affected my mind. 

I gave myself to a great deal of prayer. After my 
evening services, I would retire as early as I well could ; but 
rose at four o'clock in the morning, because I could sleep no 
longer, and immediately went to the study, and engaged in 
prayer. And so deeply was my mind exercised, and so ab- 
sorbed in prayer, that I frequently continued from the time 
I arose, at four o'clock, till the gong called to breakfast, at 
eight o'clock. My days were spent, so far as I could get 
time, in searching the Scriptures. I read nothing else, all that 
winter, but my Bible ; and a great deal of it seemed new to 
me. Again the Lord took me, as it were, from Genesis to 
Eevelation. He led me to see the connection of things, the 
promises, threatenings, the prophecies and their fulfilment ; 
and indeed, the whole Scripture seemed to me all ablaze with 
light, and not only light, but it seemed as if God's word was 
instinct with the very life of God. 

After praying in this way for weeks and months, one 
morning while I was engaged in prayer, the thought occurred 
to me, what if, after all this divine teaching, my will is not 
carried, and this teaching takes effect only in my sensibility ? 
May it not be that my sensibility is affected, by these revela- 
tions from reading the Bible, and that my heart is not really 
subdued by them ? At this point several passages of scrip- 
ture occurred to me, such as this : " Line must be upon line, 
line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, 
here a little, and there a little, that they might go and fall 
backward, and be snared and taken." The thought that 1 
might be deceiving myself, when it first occurred to me, stung 
me almost like an adder. It created a pang that I cannot de- 
scribe. The passages of Scripture that occurred to me, in that 
direction, for a few moments greatly increased my distress. 
But directly I was enabled to fall back upon the perfect will 
of God. I said to the Lord, that if he saw it was wise and 
best, and that his honor demanded that I should be left to 



ANOTHER WINTER IN BOSTON. 375 

be deluded, and go down to hell, I accepted his will, and I 
eaid to him, "Do with me as seemeth thee good." 

Just before this occurrence, I had a great struggle to 
consecrate myself to God, in a higher sense than I had ever 
before seen to be my duty, or conceived as possible. I had 
often before laid my family all upon the altar of God, and 
left them to be disposed of at his discretion. But at this 
time that I now speak of, I had had a great struggle about 
giving up my wife to the will of God. She was in very 
feeble health, and it was very evident that she could not live 
long. I had never before seen so clearly what was implied 
in laying her, and all that I possessed, upon the altar of God 
and for hours I struggled upon my knees, to give her up 
unqualifiedly to the will of God. But I found myself 
unable to do it. I was so shocked and surprised at this, 
that I perspired profusely with agony. I struggled and 
prayed until I was exhausted, and found myself entirely 
unable to give her altogether up to God's will, in such a 
way as to make no objection to his disposing of her just as 
he pleased. 

This troubled me much. I wrote to my wife, telling her 
what a struggle I had had, and the concern that I had felt 
at not being willing to commit her, without reserve, to the 
perfect will of God. This was but a very short time before 
I had this temptation, as it now seems to me to have been, of 
which I have spoken, when those passages of Scripture came 
up distressingly to my mind, and when the bitterness, almost 
of death seemed, for a few moments, to possess me, at the 
thought that my religion might be of the sensibility only, and 
that God's teaching might have taken effect only in my feeling. 
But as I said, I was enabled, after struggling for a few mo- 
men ts with this discouragement and bitterness, which I have 
since attributed to a fiery dart of Satan, to fall back, in a 
deeper sense than I had ever done before upon the infinitely 
blessed and perfect will of God. I then told the Lord that 
I had such confidence in him, that I felt perfectly willing, 



vJTG MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. EIKKEY. 

to give myself, my wife and my family, all to be disposed ol 
according to his own wisdom. 

I then had a deeper view of what was implied in conse- 
cration to God, than ever before. I spent a long time upon 
my knees, in cc nsidering the matter all over, and giving up 
everything to the will of God ; the interests of the church, 
the progress of religion, the conversion of the world, and 
the salvation or damnation of my own soul, as the will of God 
might decide. Indeed I recollect, that I went so far as to say 
to the Lord, with all my heart, that he might do anything 
with me or mine, to which his blessed will could consent , 
that I had such perfect confidence in his goodness and love, 
as to believe that he could consent to do nothing, to which I 
could object. I felt a kind of holy boldness, in telling him 
to do with me just as seemed to him good ; that he could 
not do anything that was not perfectly wise and good ; 
and therefore, I had the best of grounds for accepting what- 
ever he could consent to, in respect to me and mine. So 
deep and perfect a resting in the will of God, I had never 
before known. 

What has appeared strange to me is this, that I could 
not get hold of my former hope ; nor could I recollect, with 
any freshness, any of the former seasons of communion and 
divine assurance that I had experienced. I may say that I 
gave up my hope, and rested every thing upon a new foun- 
dation. I mean, I gave up my hope from any past experi- 
ence, and recollect telling the Lord, that I did not know 
whether he intended to save me or not. Nor did I feel 
concerned to know. I was willing to abide the event. I 
said that if I found that he kept me, and worked in me by 
his Spirit, and was preparing me for heaven, working holi- 
ness and eternal life in my soul, 1 should take it for granted 
that, he intended to save me ; that if, on the other hand, I 
found myself empty of divine strength and light and love, I 
should conclude that he saw it wise and expedien-Mo send 



ANOTHER WINTER I2J BOSTOtf. 37? 

me to hell ; and that in either event I would accept mswill 
My mind settled into a perfect stillness. 

This was early in the morning ; and through the whole 
of that day I seemed to he in a state of perfect rest, hody 
and soul. The question frequently arose in my mind, during 
the day, "Do you still adhere to your consecration, and 
abide in the will of God ? " I said without hesitation," Yes, 
I take nothing back. I have no reason for taking anything 
back; I went no farther in pledges and professions than 
was reasonable. I have no reason for taking anything 
back ; I do not want to take anything back. " The 
thought that I might be lost, did not distress me. Indeed, 
think as I might, during that whole day, I could not find 
in my mind the least fear, the least disturbing emotion. 
Nothing troubled me. I was neither elated nor depressed ; 
I was neither, as I could see, joyful or sorrowful. My con- 
fidence in God was perfect, my acceptance of his will was 
perfect, and my mind was as calm as heaven. 

Just at evening, the question arose in my mind, " What 
if God should send me to hell, what then?" "Why, I 
would not object to it." "But can he send a person to 
hell," was the next inquiry, "who accepts his will, in the 
sense in which you do ? " This inquiry was no sooner 
raised in my mind than settled. I said, " No, it is impos- 
sible. Hell could be no hell to me, if I accepted God's 
perfect will." This sprung a vein of joy in my mind, that 
kept developing more and more, for weeks and months, and 
indeed I may say, for years. For years my mind was too 
full of joy to feel much exercised with anxiety on any 
subject. My prayer that had been so fervent, and protracted 
during so long a period, seemed all to run out into, " Thy 
will be done." It seemed as if my desires were all met. 
What I had been praying for, for myself, I had received in a 
way that I least expected. Holiness to the Lord seemed to 
be inscribed on all the exercises of my mind. I had such 
strong faith that God would accomplish all his perfect will, 



378 MEMOIBS OP CHARLES G. .FLtfJS'Er. 

that I could not be careful about anything. The great 
anxieties about which my mind had been exercised, during 
my seasons of agonizing prayer, seemed to be set aside ; so 
that for a long time, when I went to God, to commune with 
him — as I did very, very frequently — I would fall on my 
knees, and find it impossible to ask for anything, with any 
sarnestness, except that his will might be done in earth as it 
Is done in heaven. My prayers were swallowed up in that ; 
and I often found myself smiling, as it were, in the face of 
God, and saying that I did not want anything. I was very 
sure that he would accomplish all his wise and good plea- 
sure ; and with that my soul was entirely satisfied. 

Here I lost that great struggle in which I had been en- 
gaged, for so long a time, and began to preach to the congre- 
gation, in accordance with this my new and enlarged experi- 
ence. There was a considerable number in the church, and 
that attended my preaching, who understood me ; and they 
saw from my preaching what had been, and what was, pass- 
ing in my mind. I presume the people were more sensible 
than I was myself, of the great change in my manner of 
preaching. Of course, my mind was too full of the subject 
to preach anything except a full and present salvation in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

At this time it seemed as if my soul was wedded to Christ, 
in a sense in which I had never had any thought or concep- 
tion of before. The language of the Song of Solomon, was 
as natural to me as my breath. I thought I could under- 
stand well the state of mind he was in, when he wrote that 
song; and concluded then, as I have ever thought since, 
that that song was written by him, after he had been re- 
claimed from his great backsliding. I no t only had all the 
freshness of my first love, but a vast accession to it. Indeed 
the Lord lifted me so much above anything that I had expe- 
rienced before, and taught me so much of the meaning of 
the Bible, of Christ's relations, and power, and willingness, 
that I often found myself saying to him, " I had not knowa 



anoib.ee WI2TTEB IN BOSTON. 379 

01 conceived that any such thing was true." I then realized 
what is meant by the saying, tnat he ' l is able to do exceed- 
ing abundantly above all that we ask or think.'' He did at 
that time teach me, indefinitely above all that I had ever 
asked or thought. I had had no conception of the length 
and breadth, and height and depth, and efficiency of his 
grace. 

It seemed then to me that that passage, "My grace is 
sufficient for thee," meant so much, that it was wonderful I 
had never understood it before. I found myself exclaiming, 
" Wonderful ! Wonderful ! Wonderful ! " as these revela- 
tions were made to me. I could understand then what was 
meant by the prophet # when he said, "His name shall be 
called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlast- 
ing Father, the Prince of peace." I spent nearly all the 
remaining part of the winter, till I was obliged to return 
home, in instructing the people in regard to the fulness there 
is in Christ. But I found that I preached over the heads of 
the majority of the people. They did not understand me. 
There was, indeed, a goodly number that did ; and they 
were wonderfully blessed in their souls, and made more pro- 
gress in the divine life, as I have reason to believe, than in 
nil their lives before. 

But the little church that was formed there was not com- 
posed of materials that could, to any considerable extent, 
work healthfully and efficiently together. The outside oppo- 
sition to them was great. The mass even of professors of 
religion in the city, did not sympathize with them at all. 
The people of the churches generally were in no state to 
receive my views of sanctification ; and although there were 
individuals in nearly all the churches who were deeply inter- 
ested and greatly blessed, yet as a general thing, the testi- 
mony that I bore was unintelligible to them. 

Some of them could see where I was. One evening I 
recollect that Deacon P and Deacon S , after hear- 
ing my preaching, and seeing the effect upon the congrega* 



380 MEMOIES OF CHARLES G. FIKNE*. 

tion, came up to me, after I came out of the pulpit, and s&id, 
u Why, you are a great way ahead of us in this city, and 
a great way ahead of our ministers. How can we get our 
ministers to come and hear these truths ?" I replied, "I 
do not know. But I wish they could see things as I do ; for 
it does seem to me infinitely important that there should he 
a higher standard of holiness in Boston." They seemed ex- 
ceedingly anxious to have those truths laid before the peo- 
ple in general. They were good men, as the Boston people 
well know ; but what pains they really took, to get their 
ministers and people to attend, I cannot say. 

I labored that winter mostly for a revival of religion 
among Christians. The Lord prepared me to do so, by the 
great work he wrought in my own soul. Although I had 
had much of the divine life working within me ; yet, as I 
said, so far did what I experienced that winter, exceed all 
that I had before experienced, that at times I could not 
realize that I had ever before been truly in communion 
with God. 

To be sure I had been, often and for a long time ; and 
this I knew when I reflected upon it, and remembered 
through what I had so often passed. It appeared to me, 
that winter, that probably when we get to heaven, our views 
and joys, and holy exercises, will so far surpass anything 
that we have ever experienced in this life, that we shall be 
hardly able to recognize the fact that we had any religion, 
while in this world. I had in fact oftentimes experienced 
inexpressible joys, and very deep communion with God ; 
but all this had fallen so into the shade, under my enlarged 
experience, that frequently I would tell the Lord that I had 
never before had any conception of the wonderful things 
revealed in his blessed Gospel, and the wonderful grace there 
is in Christ Jesus. This language, I knew when I reflected 
upon it, was comparative ; but still all my former experien- 
ces, for the time, seemed to be sealed up, and almost lost 
sight oi 



ANOTHEE WLNTEE IJ* BOSTOJS. 381 

, As the great excitement of that season subsided, and my 
mind became more calm, I saw more clearly the different 
steps of my Christian experience, and came to recognize the 
connection of things, as all wrought by God from beginning 
to end. But since then I have never had those great strug- 
gles, and long protracted seasons of agonizing prayer, that I 
had often experienced. It is quite another thing to prevail 
with God, in my own experience, from what it was before. 
I can come to God with more calmness, because with more 
perfect confidence. He enables me now to rest in him, and 
let everything sink into his perfect will, with much more 
readiness, than ever before the experience of that winter. 

I have felt since then a religious freedom, a religious 
buoyancy and delight in God, and in his word, a steadiness 
of faith, a Christian liberty and overflowing love, that I had 
only experienced, I may say, occasionally before. I do not 
mean that such exercises had been rare to me before ; for 
they had been frequent and often repeated, but never abid- 
ing as they have been since. My bondage seemed to be, at 
that time, entirely broken ; and since then, I have had the 
freedom of a child with a loving parent. It seems to me 
that I can find God within me, in such a sense, that I can 
rest upon him and be quiet, lay my heart in his hand, and 
nestle down in his perfect will, and have no carefulness or 
anxiety. 

I speak of these exercises as habitual, since that period, 
but I cannot affirm that they have been altogether unbroken ; 
for in 1860, during a period of sickness, I had a season of 
great depression, and wonderful humiliation. But the Lord 
brought me out of it, into an established peace and rest. 

A few years after this season of refreshing, that beloved 
wife, of whom I have spoken, died. This was to me a great 
affliction. However, I did not feel any murmuring, or the 
least resistance to the will of God. I gave her up to God, 
without any resistance whatever, that I can recollect. But 
it was to me a great sorrow. The night after she died, I was 



393 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLNtfEY. 

lying in my room alone, and some Christian friends were 
sitting up in the parlor, and watching out the night. I had 
been asleep for a little while, and as I awoke, the thought 
of my bereavement flashed oyer my mind with such power ! 
My wife was gone ! I should never hear her speak again, 
nor see her face ! Her children were motherless ! What 
should I do ? My brain seemed to reel, as if my mind 
would swing from its pivot. I rose instantly from my 
bed, exclaiming, " I shall be deranged if I cannot rest in 
God ! " The Lord soon calmed my mind, for that night ; 
but still, at times, seasons of sorrow would come over me, 
that were almost overwhelming. 

One day I was upon my knees, communing with God 
upon the subject, and all at once he seemed to say to me, 
" You loved your wife ? " " Yes," I said. " Well, did you 
love her for her own sake, or for your sake ? Did you love 
her, or yourself ? If you loved her for her own sake, why 
do you sorrow that she is with me ? Should not her happi- 
ness with me make you rejoice instead of mourn, if you 
loved her for her own sake ? Did you love her," he seemed 
to say to me, " for my sake ? If you loved her for my sake, 
surely you would not grieve that she is with me. Why do 
you think of your loss, and lay so much stress upon that, 
instead of thinking of her gain ? Can you be sorrowful, 
when she is so joyful and happy ? If you loved her for her 
own sake, would you not rejoice in her joy, and be happy in 
her happiness ? " 

I can never describe the feelings that came over me, when 
I seemed to be thus addressed. It produced an instan- 
taneous change in the whole state of my mind. From that 
moment, sorrow, on account of my loss, was gone forever. I 
no longer thought of my wife as dead, but as alive, and in 
the midst of the glories of heaven. My faith was, at this 
time, so strong and my mind so enlightened, that it seemed 
as if I could enter into the very state of mind in which she 
was, in heaven ; and if there is any such thing as commun- 



ANOTHER WINTER IN BOSTON. 383 

uig with an absent spirit, or with one who is in heaven, I 
seemed to commune with her. Not that I eyer supposed 
she was present in such a sense that I communed personally 
with her. But it seemed as if I knew what her state of 
mind was there, what profound, unbroken rest, in the per- 
fect will of God. I could see that that was heaven ; and I 
experienced it in my own soul. I have never to this day, 
lost the blessing of these views. They frequently recur to 
me, as the very state of mind in which the inhabitants of 
heaven are, and I can see why they are in such a state of 
blessedness. 

My wife had died in a heavenly frame of mind. Her 
rest in God was so perfect, that it seemed to me that, in 
leaving this world, she only entered into a fuller apprehen- 
sion of the love and faithfulness of God, so as to confirm and 
perfect forever, her trust in God, and her union with his will. 
These are experiences in which I have lived, a great deal, 
since that time. But in Reaching, I have found that 
nowhere can I preach those truths, on which my own soul 
delights to live, and be understood, except it be by a very 
small number. I have never found that more than a very 
few, even of my own people, appreciate and receive those 
views of God and Christ, and the fulness of his free salva- 
tion, upon which my own soul still delights to feed. Every- 
where, I am obliged to come down to where the people are, 
in order to make them understand me ; and in every place 
where I have preached, for many years, I have found the 
churches in so low a state, as to be utterly incapable of 
apprehending and appreciating, what I regard as the most 
precious truths of the whole Gospel. 

When preaching to impenitent sinners, I am obliged, cf 
course, to go back to first principles. In my own experience, 
I have so long passed these outposts and first principles, 
that I cannot live upon those truths. I, however, have to 
preach them to the impenitent, to secure their conversion. 
When I preach the Gospel, I can preach the atonement, con- 



384 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES 0. EIN.tfEY. 

version, and many of the prominent views of the Gospel, that 
are appreciated and accepted by those who are young in the 
religious life ; and by those also, who have been long in the 
church of God, and have made very little advancement in 
the knowledge of Christ. But it is only now and then, that 
I find it really profitable to the people of God, to pour out to 
them the fullness that my own soul sees in Christ. In this 
place, there is a larger number of persons, by far, that under- 
stand me, and devour that class of truths, than I have found 
elsewhere; but even here, the majority of professors of religion 
do not understanding^ embrace those truths. They do not 
object, they do not oppose ; and so far as they understand, 
they are convinced. But as a matter of experience, they are 
ignorant of the power of the highest and most precioua 
truths of the Gospel of salvation, in Christ Jesus. 

I said that this winter in Boston, was spent mostly in 
preaching to professed Christians, and that many of them 
were greatly blessed in their souls. I felt very confident that, 
unless the foundations could be relaid in some sense, and 
that unless the Christians in Boston took on a higher type 
of Christian living, they never could prevail against TJni- 
tarianism. I knew that the orthodox ministers had been 
preaching orthodoxy, as opposed to Unitarianism, for many 
years ; and that all that could be accomplished by discussion, 
had been accomplished. But I felt that what Unitarians 
needed, was to see Christians live out the pure Gospel of 
Christ. They needed to hear them say, and prove what 
they said by their lives, that Jesus Christ was a divine 
Saviour, and able to save them from all sin. Their profes- 
sions of faith in Christ did not accord with their experiences. 
They could not say that they found Christ in their experi- 
ence, what they preached him to be. There is needed the 
testimony of God's living witnesses, the testimony of experi- 
ence, to convince the Unitarians ; and mere reasonings and 
arguments, however conclusive, will never overcome their 
errors and their prejudices. 



ANOTHER WINTER IX BOSTON. 385 

The orthodox churches there, are too formal ; they are 
in bondage to certain ways ; they are afraid of measures, 
afraid to launch forth in all freedom, in the use of means to 
save souls. They have always seemed to me to be in bond- 
age in their prayers, insomuch that what I call the spirit of 
prayer, I have seldom witnessed in Boston. The ministers 
and deacons of the churches, though good men, are afraid 
of what the Unitarians will say, if, in their measures to pro- 
mote religion, they launch out in such a way as to wake the 
people up. Everything must be done in a certain way. The 
Holy Spirifis grieved by their yielding to such a bondage. 

I have labored in Boston in five powerful revivals of re- 
ligion ; and I must express it as my sincere conviction, that 
the greatest difficulty in the way of overcoming Unitarian- 
ism, and all the forms of error there, is the timidity of 
Christians and churches. Knowing, as they do, that they 
are constantly exposed to the criticisms of the Unitarians, 
they have become over-cautious. Their laith has been de 
pressed. And I do fear that the prevalence of Unitarianism 
and Universalism there, has kept them back from preaching, 
and holding forth the danger of the impenitent, as president 
Edwards presented it. The doctrine of endless punishment, 
the necessity of entire s an ctifi cation, or the giving up of all 
sin, as a condition of salvation — indeed the doctrines that are 
calculated to arouse men, are not, I fear, held forth with 
that frequency and power, that are indispensable to the sal- 
vation of that city. 

The little church at the Marlborough chapel, were very 
desirous that I should become their pastor ; and I left 
Boston, and came home, with this question before my mind. 
Afterward brother Sears came on, with a formal call in his 
pocket, to persuade me to go and take up my abode there. 
But when he arrived in Oberlin, and consulted the brethren 
here, about the propriety of my going, they so much dis- 
couraged him, that he did not lay the question before me 
at all. 

17 



OHAPTER XXVIII. 



FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND. 



HAYING had repeated and urgent invitations to visit 
England, and labor for the promotion of revivals in 
that country, I embarked with my wife,* in the autumn of 
1849, and after a stormy passage, we arrived at Southampton, 
early in November. There we met the pastor of the church 
in Houghton, a village situated midway between the market 
towns of Huntington and Saint Ives. A Mr. Potto Brown, a 
very benevolent man, of whom I shall have occasion to speak 
frequently, had sent Mr. James Harcourt, his pastor, to 
meet us at Southampton. 

Mr. Potto Brown was, by parentage and education, a 
Quaker. He and a partner were engaged in the milling 
business, and belonged to a congregation of Independents, 
in Saint Ives. They became greatly affected in view of the 
state of things in their neighborhood. The Church, as it is 
called in England, seemed to them to be effecting very little 
for the salvation of souls. There were no schools, outside 
of the church schools, for the education of the poor ; and 
the mass of the people were greatly neglected. After much 
prayer and consultation with each other, they agreed to 
adopt measures for the education of the children, in the vil- 
lage where they lived, and in the villages around them, and 
to extend this influence as far as they could. They also 
agreed to apply their means, to the best advantage, in estab- 
lishing worship, and in building up churches independent ot 
the Establishment. 

*Mr. Finney had married, as hie second wife, Mrs. F^xatoth P 
Atkinson, of Rochester. 



PlfiST VISIT TO EJTGLAXD. 387 

Not long after this enterprise was commenced, Mr. 
Brown's partner died. His wife, I believe, had died before 
him ; and his partner committed his family, consisting of 
several sons and daughters, to the fraternal care of Mr. 
Brown, who committed them to the training of a judicious 
widow lady, in a neighborir^ village. Mr. Brown's partner, 
at his death, begged him not to neglect the work which they 
had projected ; but to pursue it with vigor and singleness 
of eye. Mr. Brown's heart was in the work. His partner 
left a large property to his children. Mr. Brown himself 
had but two children, sons. He was a man of simple habits, 
and expended but little money upon himself, or his family. 
He employed a school teacher, in the village where he resided, 
and built a chapel there for public worship. They called a 
man to labor there as a minister, who held hyper-calvinistic 
views ; and consequently he labored year after year, with no 
results, such as met the expectations of Mr. Brown. 

Mr. Brown had frequent conversations with his minister, 
about the want of good results. He was paying his salary, 
and laying out his money in various ways, to promote reli- 
gion, by means of Sabbath schools, and teachers, and laborers; 
but few or none were converted. He laid this matter before 
his minister so frequently, that he finally replied, "Mr. 
Brown, am I God, that I can convert souls ? I preach to 
them the Gospel, and God does not convert them ; am I to 
blame ?" Mr. Brown replied, "Whether you are God or no 
God, we must have conversions. The people must be con- 
verted." So this minister was dismissed. Rev. James 
Harcourt was employed. Mr. Harcourt is an open -com- 
munion Baptist, a talented man, a rousing preacher, and an 
earnest laborer for souls. Under his preaching, conversions 
began to appear, and the work went on hopefully. Their 
little church increased in numbers and in faith , and the 
leaven was extending gradually, but perceptibly, on every 
side. 

They soon extended their operations to neighboring yil- 



388 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

lages, with good results. But still they did not know how 
to promote revivals of religion. The children of his partner, 
who had been left under his charge, had grown up to be 
young men and women, and were not converted. There 
were three daughters and three sons, a fine family, with 
abundance of property ; but they were unconverted- Mr. 
Brown had a large number of very interesting and influen- 
tial friends, in that county, for whose salvation he felt a very 
deep interest. He was also very anxious about the children 
of his deceased partner, that they might be converted. For 
the education of his sons he had employed a teacher in his 
family ; and a considerable number of young men, of respect- 
able families, from neighboring towns, had studied with his 
sons. This little family school, to which the young men 
who were sons of his friends, in various parts of the county, 
had been invited, had created a strong bond of interest 
between Mr. Brown and these families. Mr. Harcourt'g 
labors, for some reason, did not reach these families. He 
was successful among the poorer and lower classes, was 
zealous and devoted, and preached the Gospel. As Mr. 
Brown said, "He was a powerful minister of Jesus Christ." 
But still he wanted experience, to reach the class of persons 
that Mr. Brown had more particularly on his own heart. 
These brethren frequently talked the matter over, and 
inquired how they could reach that class of persons, and 
draw them to Christ. Mr. Harcourt said that he had done 
all that he could, and that something else must be done, 
ox he did not see that this class of persons would be reached 
fttalL 

He had read my revival lectures, and he finally suggested 
*o Mr. Brown the propriety of writing to me, to see if I 
would not come and labor with them. This led to my re- 
ceiving a very earnest request from Mr. Brown, to visit them. 
He conversed also with many other people, and with some 
ministers ; which led to my receiving divers letters of pres* 
ing invitations to visit England. 



FIBST VISIT TO ENG^AtfD. 389 

At first, these letters made but little impression upon me, 
for I did not see how I could go to England. At length the 
way seemed to open for me to leave home, at least for a sea- 
son ; and as I have said, in the autumn of 1849, my wife 
and myself went to England. When we arrived there, and 
had rested a few days, I began my labors in the village 
chapel. I soon found that Mr. Brown was altogether a re- 
markable man. Although brought up a Quaker, he was en 
tirely catholic in his views, and was laboring, in an independ- 
ent way, directly for the salvation of the people around him. 
He had wealth, and his property was constantly and rapidly 
increasing. His history has reminded me many times of the 
proverb : " There is that scatterefch and yet increaseth ; there 
is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to pov- 
erty." For religious purposes, he would spend his monej 
like a prince ; and the more he spent, the more he had t<* 
spend. 

While we were there, he threw his house open morning, 
noon, and evening, and invited his friends, far and near, to 
come and pay him a visit. They came in great numbers, so 
that his table was surrounded, at nearly every meal, with 
divers persons who had been invited in, that I might have 
conversation with them, and that they might attend our 
meetings. 

A revival immediately commenced, and spread among 
the people. The children of his partner were soon interested 
in religion, and converted to Christ. The work spread 
among those that came from the neighboring villages. They 
heard and gladly received the word. And so extensive and 
thorough was the work among Mr. Brown's particular 
friends, whose conversion he had been longing and praying 
for, that before I left, he said that every one of them was 
converted, that the Lord had not left one of them out, for 
whom he had felt anxiety, and for whose conversion he had 
been praying. 

The conversion of this large number of persons, scattered 



390 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FINNEY. 

over the country, made a very favorable impression where 
they were known. The house of worship at Houghton was 
small, but it was packed at every meeting ; and the devoted- 
ness and engagedness of Mr. Brown and his wife, were most 
interesting and affecting. There seemed to be no bounds to 
their hospitality. Their schoolmaster was a religious man, and 
would run in every day, and almost every meal, and sit down 
with us, to enjoy the conversation. G-entlemen would come 
in, from neighboring towns, from a distance of many miles, 
early enough to be there at breakfast. The young men who 
had been educated with his sons, were invited, and came ; 
and I believe every one of them was converted. Thus his 
largest desires in regard to them, were fulfilled ; and very 
much more among the masses was done, than he had ex- 
pected. Mr. Harcourt, had at that time several preaching 
places, beside Houghton, in the neighboring villages. The 
savor of this work at Houghton, continued for years. Mr. 
Harcourt informed me, that he preached in a praying atmo- 
sphere, and with a melting state of feeling around him, as 
long as he remained in Houghton. 

I did not remain long in Houghton at this time ; several 
weeks, however. Among the brethren who had written, 
urging me to come to England, was a Mr. Koe, a Baptist 
minister of Birmingham. As soon as he was informed that 
I was in England, he came to Ho lighten, and spent several 
days, attending the meetings and witnessing the results. 

About the middle of December we left Houghton, and 
went to Birmingham, to labor in the congregation of Mr. 
Roe. Here, soon after our arrival, we were introduced to 
Rev. John Angell James, who was the principal dissenting 
minister in Birmingham. He was a good, and a great man, 
and wielded a very extensive influence in that city, and 
indeed throughout England. 

When my revival lectures were first published in 
England, Mr. James wrote an introduction to them, highly 
commending them. But when I arrived in Birmingham, I 



rausr visit to England. 891 

was informed that, after Mr. James had publicly recom- 
mended them, in meetings of ministers, and by his pen, he 
had been informed, by men belonging to certain circles on 
this side of the Atlantic, that those revivals that had oc- 
curred, under my ministry especially, had turned out very 
disastrously ; and that to such an extent had these represen - 
tations been made to him, that he had taken back what he 
had said publicly, in favor of those revival lectures. 

However, when he saw me in Birmingham, he called the 
Independent ministers to a breakfast at his house, and 
requested me to attend. This is the common way of doing 
things in England. When we assembled at his house, after 
breakfast was concluded, he said to his ministerial brethren, 
that he had been impressed that they were falling greatly 
short of accomplishing the end of their ministry ; that 
they were too well satisfied to have the people attend meet- 
ing, pay the minister's salary, keep up the Sabbath school, 
and move on with an outward prosperity ; while the conver- 
sions, in most of the churches, were very few, and after all, 
the people were going to destruction. I was told by Mr. 
Roe, with whom I was at that time commencing my labors, 
that there were, in Mr. James' own congregation, not less 
than fifteen hundred impenitent sinners. At the breakfast 
at Mr. James', he expressed himself very warmly, and said 
that something mast be done. 

Finally the ministers agreed upon holding meetings, as 
soon as I could comply with their request, in the different 
Independent churches, in succession. But for some weeks, I 
confined my labors to Mr. Roe's congregation, and there was 
a powerful revival, such a movement as they had never seen. 
The revival swept through the congregation with great 
power, and a very large proportion of the impenitent were 
turned to Christ. Mr. Roe entered heart and soul into the 
work. I found him a good and true man. He was not at 
all sectarian, or prejudiced in his views ; but he opened his 
heart to divine influence, and poured out himself in labors 



392 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. ELtftfEY. 

for souls, like a man in earnest. Day after day lie would sit 
in the vestry of his church, and converse with inquirers, as 
they came to visit him, and direct them to Christ. Hia 
time was almost entirely taken up with this work, for many 
days. His church was, at that time, one of the few close- 
communion churches in England, as nearly all the Baptists 
in England are open-communionists. 

After the number of conversions had become large, the 
church began to examine converts for admission. They 
examined a large number, and were about to hold a com- 
munion. I preached in the morning, and they were to hold 
their communion in the afternoon. "When the morning ser 
vice was closed, Mr. Eoe requested the church to remain for 
a few moments. My wife and myself retired after the 
morning service, and went to our lodgings at Mr. Roe's, 
where we were guests. After a little time, Mr. Eoe came 
home, and entered our room with a smile upon his face, say- 
ing, " What do you think our church have done ? " I could 
not tell ; for really it had not occurred to me to raise the in- 
quiry, what they were going to do, when they were requested 
to stay. He replied, "They have voted unanimously to 
invite you and Mrs. Finney to our communion, this after- 
noon." Their close communion was more than they could 
sustain, on such an occasion as that. However, on reflection, 
we concluded that we had better not accept their invitation, 
lest they had taken the vote under a pressure, that might 
create some reaction and regret among them afterwards ; 
and as we were really fatigued, we excused ourselves, and 
remained at home. 

As I had to preach again in the evening, I was glad to 
have the rest. I soon accepted the invitations of the minis- 
ters, to labor in their several pulpits. The congregations 
were everywhere crowded ; a great interest was excited ; and 
the numbers that would gather into the vestries after preach- 
ing, under an invitation for inquirers, was large. Their 
largest vestries would be packed with inquirers, whenever a 



JTCBST TISIT TO EtfGLAKB. .593 

call was made to resort thither for instruction. As to means, 
I used the same there that I had done in fchis country. 
Preaching, prayer, conversation, and meetings of inquiry, 
were the means used. 

But I soon found that Mr. James was receiving letters 
from various quarters, warning him against the influence of 
my labors. He had acquaintances on this side of the Atlan- 
tic ; and some of them, as I understood him, had written 
him letters, warning him against my influence. Besides, 
from various parts of his own county, the same pressure was 
made upon him. He was very frank with me, and told me 
how the matter stood ; and I was as frank with him. I said 
to him, "Brother James, your responsibility is great. I 
am aware that your influence is great ; aud these letters 
show both your influence and your responsibility, in regard 
to these labors. You are led to think that I am heretical in 
my views. You hear my preaching, whenever I preach ; and 
you know whether I preach the Gospel or not." 

I had taken with me my two published volumes of Sys- 
tematic Theology. I said to him, "Have you heard me 
preach anything that is not Gospel ? " He said, "^No, not 
anything at all." "Well," said I, "Now I have my Syste- 
mati c Theology, which I teach to my classes at home, and 
which I everywhere preach ; and I want you to read it." 
He was very earnest to do so. I soon saw that there was a 
very venerable looking gentleman with him, from evening to 
evening, at our meetings. They would attend meeting 
together ; and when I called for inquirers, they would go in, 
and stand where they could get a place, and hear all that 
was said. Who this venerable gentleman was, I was not 
aware. For several nights in succession, they came in this 
way ; but Mr. James did not introduce me to the person 
that was with him, nor come near, to speak with me, at those 
meetings. 

After things had gone on in this way, for a week or two, 
Mr. James and his venerable friend called at our lodgings. 
17* 



394 MEMOIRS OF CHAELES G. FLtfKE*. 

He introduced me to Dr. Redford, informing me, at the same 
time, that he was one of their most prominent theologians ; 
that he had more confidence in Dr. Bedford's theological 
acumen, than he had in his own ; and that he had requested 
him to visit Birmingham, attend the meetings, and especially 
to unite with him in reading my Theology. He said they had 
been reading it, from day to day ; and Dr. Bedford would 
like to have some conversation with me, on certain points of 
theology. We conversed very freely on all the questions to 
which Dr. Redford wished to call my attention ; and Dr. 
Redford said, very frankly, " Brother James, I see no reason 
for regarding Mr. Finney, in any respect, as unsound. 
He has his own way of stating theological propositions; 
but I cannot see that he differs, on any essential point, 
from us." 

They had v/ith them a little manual, prepared by the Con- 
gregational Union of England and Wales, in which was found 
a brief statement of their theological views. They read to 
me certain portions of this manual ; and in my turn, I ques- 
tioned them. I heard their explanations, and was satisfied 
there was a substantial agreement between us. 

Dr. Redford remained some time longer at Birmingham. 
He then went home, and, with my consent, took with him 
my Systematic Theology ; and said he would read it carefully 
through, and then write to me his views respecting it. I 
observed that he was indeed at home in theology, was a 
scholar and a Christian, and a thoroughly educated theolo- 
gian. I was, therefore, more than willing to have him crit- 
icise my theology, that if there was anything that needed to 
be retracted or amended, he might point it out. I requested 
him to do so, thoroughly and frankly. He took it home, gave 
himself up to a thorough examination of it, and read the 
volumes patiently and critically through. I then received 
a letter from him, expressing his strong approbation of my 
theological views, saying there were a few points upon 
which he would like to make some inquiries ; and he wished 



FIBST YISIT TO ENQLAlirD. 396 

me, as soon as I could get away from Birmingham, to come 

and preach for him. 

I continued in Birmingham, I think, about three months. 
There were a great many interesting conversions in that city ; 
and yet the ministers were not then prepared to commit; 
themselves heartily to the use of the necessary means > to 
spread the revival universally over the city. 

There was one case of so interesting a character, that I 
will call attention to it. I suppose it is generally known in 
this country, that Unitarianism in England was first de- 
veloped and promulged in Birmingham. That was the 
home of old Dr. Priestley, who was one of the principal, if 
not one of the first Unitarian ministers in England. His 
congregation I found still in existence, in Birmingham. 
One evening before I left Birmingham, I preached on this 
text : " Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and 
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Grhost." I dwelt 
first upon the divinity and personality of the Holy Ghost. 
I then endeavored to show in how many ways, and on 
how many points, men resist the divine teaching ; that 
when convinced by the Holy Spirit, they still persist in 
taking their own course ; and that in all such cases they 
are resisting the Holy Spirit. The Lord gave me liberty 
that night, to preach a very searching discourse. My object 
was to show, that while men are pleading their dependence 
on the Holy Spirit, they are constantly resisting him. 

I found in Birmingham, as I did everywhere in England, 
that the greatest stress was laid upon the influence of the 
Holy Spirit. But I nowhere found any clear discrimination 
oetween a physical influence of the Spirit, exerted directly 
upor the soul itself, and that moral, persuasive influence, 
which he in fact exerts over the minds of men. Consequently 
I found it frequently necessary, to call the attention of the 
people to the work in which the Holy Spirit is really en- 
gaged, to explain to them the express teachings of Christ 
upon this subject ; and thus to lead them to see that they 



3% MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKKET 

were not to wait for a physical influence, but to give them- 
selves ip to his persuasive influence, and obey his teachings, 
This was the object of my discourse that evening. 

After I arrived at our quarters, a lady who was present 
at the meeting, and who came into the family where we were 
guests, remarked that she observed a Unitarian minister 
present in the congregation. I remarked that that must have 
sounded strangely in the ears of a Unitarian. She replied, 
she hoped it would do him good. Not long after this, and 
when I was laboring in London, I received a letter from this 
minister, giving an account of the great change wrought in 
his religious experience, by means of that sermon. This 
letter I give, as follows : 

August 16, 1850. 



Kev. and Dear Sir : — Learning, from the Banner, that 
you are about to take your departure from England, I feel it 
would be somewhat ungrateful, if I allow you to go, without 
expressing the obligation I am conscious of being under to 
you, for the benefit I received from a sermon of yours, 
preached in Steel-house Lane, Birmingham. I think it was 
the last sermon you preached, and was on resisting the Holy 
Spirit ; but I have never been able to find the text. Indeed, 
in the interest of the points that most concerned me, I 
thought no more about the text, for two or three days after. 
In order that you may understand the benefit I received from 
the sermon, it is necessary that I should recount, briefly, my 
peculiar position at the time. 

I was educated at one of our dissenting colleges, for the 
ministry among the Independents. I entered upon the min- 
istry, and continued to exercise it about seven years. Dur- 
ing that time, I gradually underwent a great change in my 
theological views. The change was produced, I think, partly 
by philosophical speculations, and partly in the deterioration 
that had taken place in my spiritual condition. I would say 
with deepest sorrow, my piety never recovered the tone it 
lost in my passage through college. I attribute all my sor- 



FIRST TISIT TO ENGLAND. 397 

rows principally to this. My speculations led me, without 
ever having read Dr. Williams' book on divine sovereignty 
and equity, to adopt fundamentally his views. The read- 
ing of his book, fully perfected my system. Sin is a defect, 
arising out of the necessary defectibility of a creature, when 
unsupplied with the grace of God. The fall of man, there- 
fore, expresses nothing but the inevitable original imperfec- 
tion of the human race. The great end of God's moral 
government, is to correct this imperfection by education, 
and revelation, and to ultimately perfect man's condition. 
I had already, and long previously, adopted Dr. Jenkyn's 
views of spiritual influence. 

Under the guidance of such principles, you will under- 
stand, without my explaining how, sin became a mere mis- 
fortune, temporarily permitted ; or rather a necessary evil, to 
be remedied by infinite wisdom and goodness ; how eternal 
punishment became a cruelty, not for one moment to be 
thought of, in the dispensation of a good being ; and how the 
atonement became a perfect absurdity, founded upon un- 
philosophical views of sin. I became thoroughly Unitarian, 
and in the beginning of the year 1848, I professed my Uni- 
tarianism, and became minister of a church. The tendencies 
of my mind, however, were fortunately too logical for me 
long to be able to rest in Unitarianism. I pushed my con- 
clusions to simple deism, and then found they must go still 
farther. For this I was not prepared. My whole soul 
started back in horror. I reviewed my principles. A revo- 
lution took place in my whole system of philosophy. The 
doctrine of responsibility was restored to me, in its most 
strict and literal sense, and with it a deep consciousness of 
gin. I need not enter into minute details, with reference 
to my struggles and mental sufferings. 

About two weeks before I heard you, I saw clearly I 
must some day or the other, readopt the evangelical system. 
I never had doubted it was the system of the Bible. I 
became Unitarian, upon purely rationalistic grounds. But 



898 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FI*TNEY. 

now I found I must accept the Bible, or perish in darkness. 
You may imagine the agonies of spirit I had to endure. On 
the one hand were convictions, becoming stronger every day, 
the sense of sin, and the need of Christ, obtaining a firmer 
hold over my heart, and the miserable condition of withhold- 
ing the truth I knew, from the people looking up to me for 
instruction. On the other hand, if I professed myself, 1 
instantly, in the sight of all parties, especially with that 
great majority having no sympathy with such struggles, 
ruined my character, by my apparent fickleness, and threw 
myself, my wife and children upon the world. I could not 
make up my mind to this alternative. I had resolved to 
wait, gradually to prepare the people's minds for the change, 
and by exercising a more rigid economy, for some months, to 
make provision for our temporal wants, during the period 
of transition. In this state of mind I heard your sermon. 
You will recollect it, and easily comprehend the effect it 
produced. I felt the truth of your arguments. Your 
appeals came home irresistibly to my heart, and that night, 
on my way home, I vowed before God, come what would, I 
would at once consecrate myself afresh to that Saviour, 
whose blood I had so recently learned to value, and whose 
value I had done so much to dishonor. 

The result is, through the kind influence of Mr. , I 

have lately become the minister of the church in this town. 
The peace of mind I now enjoy, does indeed surpass all un- 
derstanding. I never before found such an absorbing pleas- 
ure, in the work of the ministry. I enter fully into the sig- 
nificance of what Paul says, " If any man be in Christ he is 
a new creature.''' I caunot tell you therefore, with how many 
feelings of gratitude, your name will be associated in my 
soul. I bless God for the kind providence that brought me 
to hear you. It seems to me now, more than probable, had 
I not heard you, my newly awakened religious life would 
soon have been destroyed, by continued resistance to my deep 
convictions. My conscience would again have become hard- 



FIBST VISIT TO ENGLAND. 399 

ened, and I should have died in my sins. Through the 
grace of God, I shall trace up to you, any usefulness God may 
hereafter crown my labors with, and I feel it would be un- 
just ro withhold from you, the knowledge of this fruit of 
your labors. May God, of his infinite mercy and grace, grant 
you a long life of even greater usefulness, than he has yet 
blessed you with, will be the constant prayer of 
Dear Sir, Yours very truly, 

When I received this letter, I was laboring with Eev. 
John Campbell in the old Tabernacle of Whitefield in London. 
I handed it to him to read. He read it over with manifestly 
deep emotion, and then exclaimed " There, that is worth 
coming to England for ! " 

From Birmingham I went to "Worcester, I think about 
the middle of March, to labor with Dr. Bedford. I have said 
that he had read my Systematic Theology, and had written 
to me that he wished to have some conversation with me, 
on certain points. I had with me, my replies to the various 
criticisms which had been published, and these I handed 
to Dr. Bedford. He read them through, and then called on 
me and said, " Those replies have cleared up all the ques- 
tions on which I wished to converse ; therefore I am fully 
satisfied that you are right. After that, in no instance, that 
I recollect, did he make a criticism upon any part of my The- 
ology. Those who have seen the English edition of that 
work, are aware that he wrote a preface to it, in which he 
commended it to the Christian public. 

At - the time I refer to, when he had read through my 
replies to those reviews, he expressed a strong desire that 
the work should be immediately published in England ; and 
said that he thought the work was greatly needed there, and 
would do great good. His opinion had great weight in Eng- 
land, upon theological questions. Dr. Campbell, I remem- 
ber, affirmed in his newspaper, that Dr. Bedford was the 
greatest theologian in Europe. I remained in Worcester 



4:00 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FLOTEr. 

several weeks, and preached for Dr. Redford, and also for a 
Baptist congregation in that city. There were many very 
striking conversions ; and the work was interesting indeed. 

Some wealthy gentlemen in Worcester laid before me a 
proposition to this effect. They proposed to erect a movable 
tabernacle, or house of worship ; one that could be taken 
down and transported from place to place upon the railway, 
and, at slight expense, set up again, with all its seats, and 
all the furniture of a house of worship. They proposed to 
build it, one hundred and fifty feet square, with seats so con 
structed as to provide for five or six thousand people. They 
said if I would consent to use it, and preach in it from place 
to place, as circumstances might demand, for six months, 
they would be at the expense of building it. But on con- 
sulting the ministers at that place, they advised me not to do 
it. They thought it would be more useful for me to occupy 
the pulpits, in the already established congregations, in dif- 
ferent parts of England, than to go through England preach- 
ing in an independent way, such as was proposed by those 
gentlemen. 

As I had reason to believe the ministers generally would 
disapprove of a course then so novel, I declined to pledge 
myself to occupy it. I have since thought that I probably 
made a mistake ; for when I came to be acquainted with 
the congregations, and places of public worship, of the Inde- 
pendent churches, I found them generally so small, so badly 
ventilated, so situated, so hedged in and circumscribed by 
the Church — I mean, of course, the Establishment — that it 
has since appeared to me doubtful whether I was right ; as I 
nave been of opinion that I could, upon the whole, have 
accomplished much greater good in England, by carrying as 
it were, my own place of worship with me, going where I 
pleased, and providing for the gathering of the masses, irre- 
spective of denominations. If my strength were now as it 
was, then, I should be strongly inclined to visit England 
again, and try an experiment of that kind. Dr. Redford WM 



FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND. 401 

greatly affected by the work in Worcester ; and at the May 
anniversaries in London, he addressed the Congregational 
union of England and Wales, and gave a very interesting 
account of this work. I attended those May meetings, being 
about to commence labor with Dr. John Campbell, in London. 

Dr. Campbell was a successor of Whitefield, and was pastor 
of the church at the Tabernacle in Finsbury, London, and 
also of the Tottenham Court Eoad chapel. These chapels are 
both in London, and about three miles apart. They were 
built for Mr. Whitefield, and occupied by him for years. 
Dr. Campbell was also at that time editor of the British 
Banner, the Christian Witness, and of one or two other 
periodicals. His voice was such that he did not preach, but 
gave his time to the editing of those papers. He lived in 
the parsonage in which Whitefield resided, and used the same 
library, I believe, that Whitefield had used. Whiter! eld's por- 
trait hung in his study in the Tabernacle. The savor of his 
name was still there ; yet I must say that the spirit that had 
been upon him, was not very apparent in the church, at the 
time I went there. I said that Dr. Campbell did not preach. 
He still held the pastorate, resided in the parsonage, and 
drew the salary ; but he supplied his pulpit by employing, for 
a few weeks at a time, the most popular ministers that could 
be employed, to preach to his people. I began my labors 
there early in May. Those who are acquainted with the 
workings of sucn a constant change in the ministry, as they 
had had at the Tabernacle, would not expect religion in the 
church, to be in a flourishing condition. 

Dr. Campbell's house of worship was large. It was 
compactly seated, and could accommodate full three thou- 
sand persons. A friend of mine took particular pains to 
ascertain which would hold the greatest number of people, 
the Tabernacle in Moorfields or Finsbury, or the great 
Exeter Hall, of which every body has heard. It was ascer- 
tained that the Tabernacle would seat some hundreds more 
than Exeter Hall. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

LABOBS IK THE TABERNACLE, MOORFIELDS, LOOTOtf. 

[HAD accepted Dr. Campbell's cordial invitation tc 
supply j is pulpit for a time, and accordingly, after the 
fctay meetings I put in, in earnest, for a revival ; though 1 
?aid no such thing to Dr. Campbell, or any body else, for 
some weeks. I preached a course of sermons designed to 
convict the people of sin, as deeply and as universally ac 
possible. I saw from Sabbath to Sabbath, and from even- 
ing to evening, that the word was taking great effect. On 
Sabbath day, I preached morning and evening ; and I also 
preached on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 
evenings. On Monday evening, we had a general prayer- 
meeting in the Tabernacle. At each of those meetings I 
addressed the people on the subject of prayer. Our congre- 
gations were very large ; and always on Sabbath, and Sab- 
bath evenings, the house was crowded. 

Religion had so declined throughout London, at that 
time, that very few weekly sermons were preached ; and I 
recollect that Dr. Campbell said to me once, that he believed 
I preached to more people, during the week evenings, than 
all the rest of the ministers in London together. I have 
said that Dr. Campbell had the salary belonging to the 
pastor, in his congregation. But this salary, he did not use 
for himself, at least more than a part of it ; because he sup- 
plied the pulpit at his own expense, while he performed 
such parochial duties, as it was possible for him to perform, 
under such a pressure of editorial labors. I found Dr 
Campbell to be an earnest, but a very belligerent, man. 
He was always given to controversy. To use an American 



LABORS IN LONDON. 403 

expression, he was given to "pitching into " everybody and 
everything that did not correspond with his views. In this 
way he did a great deal of good ; and occasionally, I fear, 
some harm. 

After preaching for several weeks, in the manner that I 
have described, I knew that it was time to call for inquirers. 
But Dr. Campbell, I perceived, had no such idea in his mind. 
Indeed he had not sat where he could witness what was going 
on in the congregation, as I could from the pulpit ; and if 
he had done, he probably would not have understood it. 
The practice in that church, is to hold a communion service 
every alternate Sabbath evening. On these occasions they 
would have a short sermon, then dismiss the congregation ; 
and all would retire, except those that had tickets for the 
communion service, who would remain while that ordinance 
was celebrated. 

On the Sabbath morning to which I have referred, I said 
to Dr. Campbell, " You have a communion service to-nigbt, 
and I must have a meeting of inquiry at the same time. 
Have you any room, anywhere on the premises, to which I 
can invite inquirers after preaching ? " He hesitated, and 
expressed doubts whether there were any that would attend 
such a meeting as that. However, as I pressed the matter 
upon him, he replied, " Yes, there is the infant school room, 
to which you might invite them." I inquired how many 
persons it could accommodate. He replied, "From twenty 
to thirty, or perhaps forty." ' 1 0," I said, " that is not half 
large enough. Have you not a larger room ? " At this he 
expressed astonishment ; and inquired if I thought that there 
was interest enough in the congregation, to warrant any such 
invitation as I had intended to give. I told him there were 
hundreds of inquirers in the congregation. But at this he 
laughed, and said it was impossible. I asked him if he had 
not a larger room. "Why yes," he said, "there is the 
British school room. But that will hold fifteen or sixteen 
hundred; of course you don't want that." "Yes," said I, 



404 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKNEY. 

"that is the very room. Where is it?" "0," said he, 
" surely you will not venture to appoint a meeting there. 
Not half as many would attend, I presume, as could get into 
the infant school-room." Said he, "Mr. Finney, remembei 
you are in England, and in London ; and that you are no: 
acquainted with our people. You might get people to attend 
such a meeting, under such a call as you propose to make, 
in America; but you will not get people to attend here. 
Remember that our evening service is out before the sun is 
down, at this time of year. And do you suppose that in the 
midst of London, under an invitation to those that are seek- 
ing the salvation of their souls, and are anxious on that sub- 
ject, that they will single themselves out, right in the day- 
time, and under such a call as that, publicly given, to attend 
such a meeting as that?" I replied to him, "Dr. Camp- 
bell, I know what the state of the people is, better than you 
do. The Gospel is as well adapted to the English people as 
to the American people ; and I have no fears at all, that the 
pride of the people will prevent their responding to such a 
call, any more than it would the people in America." 

I asked him to tell me where that room was ; and so to 
specify it, that I could point it out to the people, and make 
the appeal that I intended to make. After a good deal of 
discussion, the doctor reluctantly consented ; but told me 
expressly, that I must take the responsibility on myself, that 
he would not share it. I replied that I expected to take the 
responsibility, and was prepared to do so. He then gave mo 
particular directions about the place, which was but a little 
distance from the Tabernacle. The people had to pass up 
Cowper street toward City road, a few rods, and turn through 
a narrow passage, to the British school room building. We 
then went to meeting ; and I preached in the morning, and 
again at evening ; that is, at six o'clock, if I recollect the 
hour. I preached a short sermon, and then informed the 
people what I desired. I called upon all who were anxioug 
for their souls, and who were then disposed, immediately, tc 



LABORS IN LONDON. 405 

make their peace with God, to attend a meeting for instruc- 
tion, adapted to their state of mind. I was very particular, 
in regard to the class of persons invited. I said, " Profes- 
sors of religion are not invited to attend this meeting. 
There is to be a communion service here : let them remain 
here. Careless sinners are not invited to this meeting. 
Those, and those only, are expected to attend, who are not 
Christians, but who are anxious for the salvation of their 
souls, and wish instruction given them directly, upon the 
question of their present duty to God." This I repeated, so 
as not to be misunderstood. Dr. Campbell listened with 
great attention ; and I presume he expected, since I had 
restricted my appeal to such a class, that very few, if any, 
would attend. I was determined not to have the mass of 
the people go into that room ; and furthermore, that those 
who did go, should go with the express understanding, that 
they were inquiring sinners. I was particular on this 
point ; not only for the sake of the results of the meeting, 
but to convince Dr. Campbell that his view of the subject 
was a mistaken one. I felt entirely confident, that there was 
a great amount of conviction in the congregation, and that 
hundreds were prepared to respond to such a call, at once. 
I was perfectly confident that I was not premature, in mak- 
ing such a call. I therefore proceeded very particularly to 
point out the class of persons whom I wished to attend, and 
the manner in which they would find the place. I then dis- 
missed the meeting, and the congregation retired. 

Dr. Campbell nervously and anxiously looked out of the 
window, to see which way the congregation went ; and to his 
great astonishment, Cowper street was perfectly crowded 
Willi people, pressing up to get into the British school-room. 
I passed out, and went up with the crowd, and waited at the 
entrance, till the multitude went in. When I entered, I 
found the room packed. Dr. Campbell's impression was, 
that there were not less than fifteen or sixteen hundred 



406 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItfKET. 

present. It was a large room, seated with forms or benches, 
such as are often used in school-rooms. 

There was near the entrance a platform, on which the 
speakers stood, whenever they had public meetings, which 
was of frequent occurrence. I soon discovered that the con- 
gregation were pressed with conviction, in such a manner 
ihat great care needed to be taken, to prevent an explosion 
of irrepressible feeling. It was but a very short time before 
Dr. Campbell came in himself. Observing such a crowd 
gather, he was full of anxiety to be present ; and conse- 
quently hastened through with his communion services, and 
came into the meeting of inquiry. He looked amazed at the 
crowd present, and especially at the amount of feeling mani- 
fested. I addressed them for a short time, on the question 
of immediate duty ; and endeavored, as I always do, to 
make them understand that God required of them then to 
yield themselves entirely to his will, to ground their weap- 
ons of rebellion, make their submission to him as their right- 
ful sovereign, and accept Jesus as their only Kedeemer. 

I had been in England long enough to feel the necessity 
of being very particular, in giving them such instructions as 
would do away their idea of waiting God's time. London 
is, and long has been, cursed with hyper-calvinistic preach- 
ing. I therefore aimed my remarks at the subversion of 
those ideas, in which I supposed many of them had been edu- 
cated ; for but few persons present, I supposed, belonged 
properly to Dr. Campbell's congregation. Indeed, he had 
himself told me that the congregation which he saw from 
day to day, was new to him ; that the masses who were 
tironging there were as much unknown to him as they were 
to me. I tried therefore in my instructions, to guard them 
on the one hand against hyper-calvinism, and on the other 
against that low Arminianism in which I supposed many of 
them had been educated. 

I then, after I had laid the gospel net thoroughly around 
them, prepared to draw it ashore. As I was about to ask 



LABORS IN LONDON. 407 

them to kneel down, and commit themselves entirely and f or- 
eyer to Christ, a man cried out in the midst of the congre- 
gation, in the greatest distress of mind, that he had sinned 
away his day of grace. I saw that there was danger of an 
uproar, and I hushed it down as best I could, and called on 
the people to kneel down ; but to keep so quiet, if possible, 
that they could hear every word of the prayer that I was 
about to offer. They did, by a manifest effort, keep so still 
as to hear what was said, although there was a great sobbing 
and weeping in every part of the house. 

I then dismissed the meeting. After this I held similar 
meetings, with similar results, frequently on Sabbath evening, 
while I remained with that congregation, which was in all 
nine months. The interest rose and extended so far, that the 
inquirers could not be accommodated in that large British 
school-room ; and frequently when I saw that the impression 
on the congregation was very general and deep, after giving 
them suitable instructions, and bringing them face to face 
with the question of unqualified and present surrender of all 
to Christ, I would call on those that were prepared in mind 
to do this, to stand up in their places, while we offered them 
to God in prayer. The aisles in that house were so narrow 
and so packed, that it was impossible to use what is called 
the anxious seat, or for people to moye about at all in the 
congregation. 

Frequently when I made these calls, for people to arise 
and offer themselves while we offered them in prayer, many 
hundreds would arise ; and on some occasions, if the house 
seated as many as was supposed, not less than two thousand 
people sometimes arose, when an appeal was made. Indeed 
it would appear from the pulpit as if nearly the whole con- 
gregation arose. And yet I did not call upon church-mem- 
bers, but simply upon inquirers to stand up and commit 
themselves to God. 

In the midst of the work, a circumstance occurred which 
will illustrate the extent of the religious interest connected 



408 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. PIKNEY. 

with that congregation at that time. The circumstance 
to which I allude was this : The dissenters in England had 
been for a good while endeavoring to persuade the govern- 
ment to have more respect in their action, than they were 
wont to do, to the dissenting interest in that country. But 
they had always been answered in a way that implied that 
the dissenting interest was small, as compared with that of 
the established church. So much had been said on this 
subject that the government determined to take measures to 
ascertain the relative strength of the two parties, that is, of the 
dissenters and the church of England. On a certain Satur- 
day night, without any previous warning or notice whatever, 
that should lead the people anywhere to understand or even 
suspect the movement, a message was secretly sent to every 
place of worship in the kingdom, requesting that individuals 
should be selected to stand at the doors of all the churches, 
and chapels, and places of worship in the whole kingdom, 
on the next Sabbath morning, to take the census of all 
that entered houses of worship of every denomination. 
Such a notice was sent to Dr. Campbell ; but I did not 
know it till afterward. In obedience to directions, he 
placed men at every door of the Tabernacle, witli instruc- 
tions to count every person that went in, during the 
morning service. This was done, as I understood, through- 
out the whole of Great Briatin. In this way they ascertained 
the relative strength of the two parties ; in other words, 
which had the most worshippers on Sabbath, the dissenters 
or the established church. I believe this census proved that 
the dissenters were in a majority. But however this may 
be, Dr. Campbell told me that the men stationed at the loora 
of the Tabernacle, reported several thousands mere than 
could at any one time get into the house. This arose from the 
fact that multitudes entered the doors, and finding no place 
to sit or stand, would give place to others. The interest was 
so great, that a place of worship that would hold many 
thousands, would have been just as full as the Tabernacle. 



LABOBS IK LOKDOK. 409 

Whence they all came, Dr. Campbell did not know, and 
no one could tell ; but that hundreds and thousands of them 
were converted, there is no reason to doubt. Indeed, I saw 
and conversed with vast numbers, and labored in this way to 
the full limit of my strength. 

On Saturday evening, inquirers and converts would come 
to the study for conversation. Great numbers came every 
week, and conversions multiplied. People came, as I 
learned, from every part of the city. Many people walked 
several miles every Sabbath to attend the meetings. Soon 
I began to be accosted in the streets, in different parts of the 
city, by people who knew me, and had been greatly blessed 
in attending our meetings. Indeed, the word of God was 
blessed, greatly blessed in London at that time. 

One day Dr. Campbell requested me to go in, and make a 
few remarks to the scholars in the British school-room. I 
did so, and began by asking them what they proposed to do 
with their education, and dwelt upon their responsibility in 
that respect. I tried to show them how much good they 
might do, and how great a blessing their education would be 
to them and to the world, if they used it aright, and what a 
great curse it would be to them and to the world, if they 
used it selfishly. The address was short; but that point 
was strongly urged upon them. Dr. Campbell afterward 
remarked to me, that a goodly number, I forget now how 
many, had been received to the church, who were at that 
time awakened, and led to seek the salvation of their souls. 
He mentioned it as a remarkable fact, because, he said, he 
had no expectation that such a result would follow. 

The fact is, that the ministers in England, as well as in 
ijis country, had lost sight, in a great measure, of the neces- 
sity of pressing present obligations home upon the consciences 
of the people. "Why," said Dr. Campbell, when he told 
me of this, "I don't understand it. You did not say any- 
thing but what anybody else might have said just as welL" 
'"' Yes," I replied, " they might have said it ; but would thej 
18 



±10 MEMOIKS OF CHAELES G. FINNEY 

have said it ? Would they have made as direct and pointed 
an appeal to the consciences of those young people, as I 
did ? " This is the difficulty. Ministers talk about sinners ; 
and do not make the impression that God commands them, 
now to repent ; and thus they throw their ministry away. 

Indeed I seldom hear a sermon that seems to be con- 
structed with the intention of bringing sinners at once, face 
to face with their present duty to God. Yoq would 
scarcely get the idea from the sermons that are heard, either 
in this country or in England, that ministers expect or 
intend, to be instrumental in converting, at the time, any- 
body in the house. 

A fact was related to me some time ago, that will illus 
trate what I have just said. Two young men wLo were 
acquaintances, but had very different views of preaching the 
Gospel, were settled over congregations, at no great distance 
from each other. One of them had a powerful revival in 
his congregation, and the other had none. One was having 
continual accessions to his church, and the other none. 
They met one day, and he who had no accession to his 
church, inquired of his brother the cause of the difference 
between them ; and asked if he might take one of his 
sermons and preach it to his people, and see if it had any 
different effect from his own. The arrangement was 
made ; and he preached the borrowed sermon to his people. 
It was a sermon, though written, yet constructed for the 
purpose of bringing sinners face to face with their duty to 
God. At the close of the service he saw that many were 
very much affected, and remained in their seats weeping. 
He therefore made a profound apology, saying he hoped he 
had not hurt theii feelings, for he did not intend it. 

My own mind was greatly exercised, in view of the moral 
desolation of that vast city of London. The places of wor- 
ship in the city, as I learned, were sufficient to accommodate 
only a small part of the inhabitants. But I was greatly 
interested in a movement that sprang up among the Episco- 



IABOBS IN LONDON. 411 

palians. Numbers of their ministers came in, and attended 
our meetings. One of the rectors, a Mr. Allen, became very 
much engaged, and made up his mind that he would try to 
promote a revival in his own great parish. As he afterward 
informed me, he went around and established twenty prayer- 
meetings in his parish, at different points. He went to preach- 
ing with all his might, directly to the people. The Lord 
greatly blessed his labors, and before I left, he informed me 
that not less than fifteen hundred persons had been hope- 
fully converted in his parish. Several other Episcopal min- 
isters were greatly stirred up, and quickened in their souls, 
and went to holding protracted or continuous services. 
When I left London, there were four or five different Epis- 
copal churches that were holding daily meetings, and making 
efforts to promote a revival. In every instance, I believe, 
they were greatly blessed and refreshed. It was ten years 
before I visited London again to labor ; and I was told that 
the work had never ceased ; that it had been going on, and 
enlarging its borders, and spreading in different directions. 
I found many of the converts, the second time I visited 
there, laboring in different parts of London in various ways, 
and with great success. 

I have said my mind was greatly exercised about the state 
of London. I was scarcely ever more drawn out in prayer 
for any city or place than I was for London. Sometimes, 
when I prayed, in public especially, it seemed, with the mul- 
titudes before me, as if I could not stop praying ; and that 
the spirit of prayer would almost draw me out of myself, in 
pleadings for the people, and for the city at large. I had 
hardly more than arrived in England, before I began to 
receive multitudes of invitations to preach, for the purpose 
of taking up collections for different objects : to pay the 
pastor's salary, to help pay for a chapel, or to raise money 
for the Sabbath-school, or for some such object And had 
I complied with their requests, I could have done nothing 
else. But I declined to go, in answer to any such call. I 



412 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FItfNEY. 

told them I had not come to England, to get money for my 
self or for them. My object was to win sonls to Christ. 

After I had preached for Dr. Campbell about four 
months and a half, I became very hoarse ; and my wife's 
health also became much affected by the climate, and by 
our intense labors. And here I must commence more par- 
ticularly, a recital of what God did by her. 

Up to this time she had attended and taken part only in 
meetings for women ; and those were so new a thing in 
England that she had done but little thus far in that way. 
But while we were at Dr. Campbell's^ a request was made 
that she would attend a tea-meeting of poor women, with- 
out education and without religion. Tea-meetings, as they 
are called, are held in England, to bring together people for 
any special object. Such a meeting was called by some of 
the benevolent Christian gentlemen and ladies, and my wife 
was urgently requested to attend it. She consented, having 
no thought that gentlemen would remain in the meeting, 
while she made her address. However, when she got there, 
she found the place crowded ; and, in addition to the 
women, a considerable number of gentlemen, who were 
greatly interested in the results of the mee'.ing. She waited 
a little, expecting that they would retire. But as they re- 
mained, and expected her to take charge of the meeting, she 
arose, and, I believe, apologized for being called to speak in 
public, informing them that she had never been in the habit 
of doing so. She had then been my wife but a little more 
tnan a year, and had never been abroad with me to labor in 
revivals, until we went to England. She made an address at 
this meeting, as she informed me after she came to our 
lodgings, of about three-quarters of an hour in length, and 
with very manifest good results. The poor women present 
seemed to be greatly moved and interested ; and when she 
had done speaking, some of the gentlemen present arose, and 
expressed their great satisfaction at what they had heard. 
They said they had had prejudices against women speaking 



LABORS IN LONDON. 413 

in public ; but they could see no objection to it under such 
circumstances, and they saw that it was manifestly calcu- 
lated to do great good. They therefore requested her to 
attend other similar meetings, which she did. When she 
returned, she told me what she had done, and said that she 
did not know but it would excite the prejudices of the peo- 
ple of England, and perhaps do more harm than good. I 
feared this myself, and so expressed myself to her. Yet I 
believe I did not advise her to keep still, and not attend any 
more such meetings ; but after more consideration I encour- 
aged it. From that time she became more and more 
accustomed, while we remained in England, to that kind of 
labor ; and after we returned home, she continued to labor 
with her own sex wherever we went. Upon this I shall 
have occasion to enlarge, when I speak of the revivals in 
which she bore "ar very prominent part. 

There were a great number of most interesting cases of 
conversion in London at that time, from almost all classes 
of society. I preached a great deal on confession and resti- 
tution ; the results of whichs were truly wonderful. Almost 
every form of crime was thus searched out and confessed. 
Hundreds, and I believe thousands of pounds sterling were 
paid over to make restitution. 

Every one acquainted with London is aware that from 
early in November till the next March, the city is very 
gloomy, and has a miserable atmosphere either to breathe or 
to speak in. We went there early in May. In September 
my friend Brown, of Houghton, called on us, and seeing the 
gtate of health that we were both in, he said, " This will 
n<.ver do. You must go to France, or somewhere on the 
continent where they cannot understand your language; 
for there is no rest for you in England as long as you are 
able to speak at all." After talking the matter over, we 
concluded to take his advice, and go for a little while to 
France. He handed me fifty pounds sterling, to meet our 
expenses. We went to Paris, and various other places k 



414 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEI. 

France. We sedulously avoided making any acquaintances, 
and kept ourselves as quiet as possible. The influence of the 
change of climate upon my wife's health, was very marked. 
She recovered her full tone of strength very rapidly. I 
gradually got over my hoarseness ; and after an absence of 
about six weeks, we returned to our labors in the Tabernacle, 
where we continued to labor till early in the next April, 
when we left for home. I left England with great reluc- 
tance. But the prosperity of our college seemed to require 
that I should return. We had become greatly interested in 
the people of England, and desired very much to remain 
there, and protract our labors. We sailed in a large packet 
ship, the Southampton, from London. On the day that we 
sailed, a multitude of people who had been interested in our 
labors, gathered upon the wharf. A great majority of them 
were young converts. The ship had to wait for the tide, 
and for several hours there was a vast crowd of people in the 
open space around the ship, waiting to see us off. Tearing 
away from such a multitude of loving hearts, completely 
overcame the strength of my wife. As soon as the ship was 
clear of the dock, she retired to our state-room. I remained 
upon the deck and watched the waving of handkerchiefs, 
until we were swept down the river, out of sight. Thug 
closed our labors in England, on our first visit there. 



CHAPTER XXX 

LABORS IN HARTFORD AND IN SYRACUSE. 

TITE arrived at Oberlin in May, 1851, and after the usual 
VV labors of the summer, we left in the autumn for 
New York city, expecting to spend the winter, as I had 
been invited to do, in labor in Eev. Dr. Thompson's church, 
in the old Broadway Tabernacle. But after preaching there 
a short time, I found so many hindrances in the way of 
our work, especially the liability to the interruption of our 
evening services, by the practice of letting the Tabernacle for 
public lectures, that I despaired of success in the effort to 
promote a general revival. I therefore left, and accepted 
an invitation to go to Hartford, and hold a series of meet- 
ings. I was invited by Rev. William W. Patton, who was 
then pastor of one of the Congregational churches of 
that city. 

Very soon after I began my labors there, a powerful 
revival influence was manifested among the people. But 
there was at this time an unhappy state of disagreement 
existing between Dr. Hawes and Dr. Bushnell. The 
orthodoxy of Dr. Bushnell, as is well-known, had been called 
in question. Dr. Hawes was himself of the opinion thai 
Dr. Bushnell's views were highly objectionable. However, 
both Dr. Hawes and Dr. Bushnell attended our meetings, and 
manifested a great interest in the work, which they saw had 
fairly begun. They invited me to preach in their churches, 
which I did. Still the lay brethren through the city felt aa 
if the disagreement among the ministers was a stumbling. 
block in the way ; and there was a considerable urgency ex- 
pressed to have the ministers come more fraternally together, 



416 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

and take a united stand before the people, to promote th* 
work. The people generally did not sympathize with Dr. 
Hawes' strong views, in regard to the orthodoxy of Dr. 
Bushnell. Being informed of this, I had a fraternal conver- 
sation with Dr. Hawes and told him that he was in a false 
position, and that the people felt tried with his laying s< ! 
great stress upon what he called the errors of Dr. Bushnell, 
and that they very generally, I believed, did not justify him 
in the position that he occupied. Dr. Hawes was a good 
man, and manifestly felt his responsibility in this matter 
very deeply. 

One evening I had been preaching, I think, for Brothei 
Patton, and the three congregational ministers were present. 
After meeting they followed me to my lodgings, and Dr. 
Hawes said, "Brother Finney, we are satisfied that the 
Spirit of the Lord is poured out here ; and now, what can 
we as ministers do to promote this work ? " I told them 
freely what I thought ; that a great responsibility rested 
upon them, and it seemed to me that it was for them to say, 
whether the work should become general throughout the 
city or not ; that if they could reconcile their differences, and 
come out before the churches, and be united and take hold 
of the work, a great obstacle would be removed ; and that I 
thought we might expect the work to spread rapidly on every 
hand. They saw their position ; Dr. Hawes and Dr. Bush- 
nell came to an understanding to lay aside their difficulties, 
and go on and promote the work. I should say here, that 1 
believe Brother Patton had never sympathized with the strong 
views held by Dr. Hawes ; and I should also say, that D2 
Bushnell himself did not seem to have any controversy with 
Dr. Hawes ; and the obstacle to be removed from before the 
public seemed to be, mostly, in the unwillingness of Dr. 
Hawes, cordially to co-operate with the other ministers, in 
the work. 

Dr. Hawes was too good a man to persist in anything 
that would prevent his doing whatever he could consistently 



LABORS IK HARTFORD. 41? 

do, to promote the work. Therefore from that time we 
seemed to work together, with a good measure of cordiality. 
The work spread into all the congregations, and went on 
very hopefully, for a number of weeks. But there was one 
peculiarity about that work that I have never forgotten. I 
believe every Sabbath that I was in that city, it stormed 
furiously. Such a succession of stormy Sabbaths I almost 
never witnessed. However, our meetings were fully attended ; 
and for a place like Hartford the work became powerful and 
extensive. 

Those who are acquainted with Hartford know how fas- 
tidious and precise the people are in regard to all they do. 
They were afraid of any measures other than prayer-meetings, 
and preaching meetings, and meetings for inquiry. In other 
words it was out of the question to call on sinners to come 
forward, and break away from the fear of man, and give 
themselves publicly to God. Dr. Hawes was especially very 
much afraid of any such measures. Consequently I could do 
no such thing there. Indeed, Dr. Hawes was so much afraid 
of measures, that I recollect, one night, in attending a meet- 
ing of inquiry in his vestry, the number of inquirers present 
was large ; and at the close I called on those that were willing 
to give themselves up to God, to kneel down. This startled 
Dr. Hawes ; and he remarked before they knelt down that 
none were requested to do so unless they did it cheerfully, 
of their own accord. They did kneel down, and we prayed 
with them. Dr. Hawes remarked to me, as the inquirers 
rose and were dismissed : " I have always felt the necessity 
of some such measure, but have been afraid to use it. I 
have always seen," said he, "that something was needed to 
bring persons to a stand, and to induce them to act on their 
present convictions ; but I have not had courage to propose 
anything of the kind." I said to him that I had found some 
such measure indispensable, to bring sinners to the point of 
submission. 

In this revival there was a great deal of praying. The 
18* 



418 MEMOIRS OE CHARLES G. FIKHEY. 

jroung converts especially, gave themselves to very muci 
prayer. One evening, as I learned, one of the young con- 
ferts after the evening services, invited another to go home 
with him, and they wonld hold a season of prayer together. 
The Lord was with them, and the next evening they invited 
others, and the next evening more still, until the meeting 
became so large that they were obliged to divide it. These 
meetings were held after the preaching service. The second 
meeting soon became too large for the room, and that again 
was divided. And I understood that these meetings multi- 
plied, until the young converts were almost universally in 
the habit of holding meetings for prayer, in different places, 
after the preaching service. Finally to these meetings they 
invited inquirers, and such as wished to be prayed for. 
This led to quite an organized effort, among the converts, for 
the salvation of souls. 

A very interesting state of things sprung up at this time 
in the public schools. As I was informed, ministers had 
agreed that they would not visit the public schools, and make 
any religious efforts there, because it excited jealousy on the 
part of different denominations. One morning a large num- 
ber of lads, as I was told, when they came together, were so 
affected that they could not study, and asked their teacher 
to pray for them. He was not a professor of religion, and 
sent for one of the pastors, informing him of the state of 
things, and requesting him to come and hold some religious 
service with them. But he declined, saying that there was 
an understanding among the pastors that they would not go 
to the public schools, to hold any religious services. He sent 
for another, and another, as I was informed ; but they told 
him he must pray for the scholars himself. This brought a 
severe pressure upon him. But it resulted, I believe, in his 
giving his own heart to God, and in his taking measures for 
the conversion of the school. I understood there was a 
goodly number of the scholars, in the various common 
schools, that were converted at that time. 



LABOES IN HARTFORU. fcjfc 

Every one acquainted with the city of Hartford knows 
that its inhabitants are a very intelligent people, that all 
classes are educated, and that there is, perhaps, no city in 
the world where education of so high an order is so general 
as it is in Hartford. When the converts came fco be received, 
gome six hundred, I believe, united with their churches. 
Dr. Hawes said to me before I left, "What shall we do with 
these young converts ? If we should form them into a 
church by themselves, they would make admirable workers 
for the salvation of souls. If, however, we receive them to 
our churches, where we have so many elderly men and women, 
who are always expected, to take the lead in everything, their 
modesty will make them fall in behind these staid Christian 
men and women ; and they will live as they have lived, and 
be inefficient as they have been. " However, as I understood, 
the young converts, of both sexes, formed themselves into a 
kind of city missionary society, and organized for the pur- 
pose of making direct efforts to convert souls throughout the 
city. Such efforts as this, for instance, were made by num- 
bers of them. One of the principal young ladies, perhaps 
as well-known and as much respected as any lady in the city, 
undertook to reclaim, and if possible save, a class of young 
men who belonged to prominent and wealthy families, but 
had fallen into bad habits, and into moral decay, and had 
lost the respect of the people. 

The position and character of this young lady rendered 
it possible and proper for her to make such an effort, without 
creating a suspicion of any impropriety on her part. She 
sought an opportunity to converse with this class of young 
men ; and, as I understood., brought them together for 
religious conversation and prayer, and was very successful 
In reclaiming numbers of them. If I have been rightly 
informed, the converts of that revival were a great power in 
that city for good ; and many of them remain there still, 
and are very active in promoting religion. 

Mrs. Finney established prayer-meetings for ladies, which 



*20 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FLN"NEY. 

were held in the vestry of the churches. These meetings 
were largely attended, and became very interesting. The 
ladies were entirely united, and very much in earnest, and 
became a principal power, under God, in promoting his work 
there. 

We left there about the first of April, and went to the 
;ity of New York on our way home. There I preached a few 
times for Eev. Henry Ward Beecher, in Brooklyn ; and there 
was a growing and deepening religious influence among the 
people, when I arrived, and when I left. But I preached but 
a few times, because my health, gave way, and I was obliged 
to desist. We came home, and went on with our labors here 
as usual, with the almost uniform result of a great degree 
of religious influence among our students, and extending 
more or less generally to the inhabitants. 

The next winter we left Oberlin at the usual season, 
and started East to occupy a field of labor to which 
we had been invited. While we were in Hartford, the pre- 
vious winter, we had a very pressing invitation to go to the 
city of Syracuse to labor. The minister of the Congrega- 
tional church came down to Hartford, to persuade me, if 
possible, to return with him. I could not see it my duty to 
go at that time, and thought no more about it. But on our 
way East at this time, we met this minister at Kochester. He 
was not then the pastor of the Congregational church in the 
city of Syracuse. But he felt so much interest for them, 
that he finally induced me to promise him that I would stop 
there, and spend at least one Sabbath. We did so, and 
found the little church very much discouraged. Their 
number was small. The church was mostly composed of 
persons of very radical views, in regard to all the great ques- 
tions of reform. The Presbyterian churches, and the other 
chuiches generally, did not sympathize at all with them, and 
it seemed as if the Congregational church must become 
extinct. 

I preached one Sabbath, and learned so much about the 



LABORS IN SYRACUSE. 421 

state of things as to be induced to remain another Sabbath. 
Soon I began to perceive a movement among the dry bones. 
Some of the leading members of the Congregational church 
began to make confession to each other, and public confes 
sion of their wanderings from God, and of other things that 
had created prejudice against them in the city. This con 
ciliated the people around them, and they began to come in, 
and soon their house of worship was too narrow to hold the 
people ; and although I had not expected to stay more than 
one Sabbath, I could not see my way clear to leave, and I 
kept on from Sabbath to Sabbath. The interest continued 
to increase and to spread. The Lord removed the obstacles, 
and brought Christian people nearer together. 

The Presbyterian churches were thrown open to our 
meetings, and conversions were multiplied on every side. 
However, as in some other cases, I directed my preaching 
very much to the Christian people. There had been very 
little sympathy existing between them ; and a great work 
was needed among professors of religion, before the way could 
be prepared outside of the churches. Thus I continued to 
labor in the different churches, until the Second Presbyterian 
church was left without a pastor ; after which we concen- 
trated our meetings there in a great measure, and held on 
throughout the winter. 

Here again Mrs. Finney established her ladies' meetings 
with great success. She generally held them in the lecture 
room of the First Presbyterian church, I think; a commodi- 
ous and convenient room for such meetings. A great many 
very interesting facts occurred in her meetings that winter. 
Christians of different denominations seemed to flow together, 
after awhile, and all the difficulties that had existed among 
them seemed to be done away. The Presbyterian and the 
Congregational churches were all without pastors while I 
was there, and hence none of them opened their doors to 
receive the converts. I was very willing that this should be 
bo, as I knew that there was great danger, if they began to 



*22 MEMOIRS OE CHARLES G. EIKNEY. 

receive the converts, that jealousies would spring up and 
mar the work. 

As we were about to leave in the spring, I gave out 
notice from the pulpit, on my own responsibility, that on 
the next Sabbath we should hold a communion service, to 
which all Christians, who truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and gave evidence of it in their lives, were invited. That 
was one of the most interesting communion seasons I ever 
witnessed. The church was filled with communicants. 
Two very aged ministers, Fathers Waldo and Brainard, 
attended and helped at the communion service. There was 
a great melting in the congregation ; and a more loving and 
joyful communion of the people of God, I think I never saw 
anywhere. 

After I left, the churches all secured pastors. I have 
been informed that that revival resulted in great and per- 
manent good. The Congregational church built them a 
larger house of worship ; and have been, I believe, ever since 
a healthy church and congregation. The Presbyterian 
churches, and I believe the Baptist churches, were much 
strengthened in faith and increased in numbers. 

The work was very deep there among a great many pio- 
fessors of religion. One very striking fact occurred which I 

will mention. There was a lady by the name of C , the 

Christian wife of an unconverted husband. She was a lady 
of great refinement, and beauty of character and person. 
Her husband was a merchant, a man of good moral charac- 
ter. She attended our meetings, and became very much 
convicted for a deeper work of grace in her soul. She called 
on me one day, in a state of very anxious inquiry. I had a 
few moments' conversation with her, and directed her atten- 
tion especially to the necessity of a thorough and universal 
consecration of herself and of her all to Christ. I told her 
that when she had done this, she must believe for the sealing 
of the Holy Spirit. She had heard the doctrine of sanctifi- 
cation preached, and it had greatly interested her ; and her 



LABORS IK SYBACUSE. 423 

inquiry was how she should obtain it. I gave her the brief 
direction which I have mentioned, and she got up hastily 
and left me. Such a pressure was upon her mind, that she 
seemed in haste to lay hold of the fulness there was in 
Christ. I do not think she was in my room more than five 
or ten minutes, and she left me like a person who has some 
pressing business on hand. In the afternoon she returned as 
iull of the Holy Spirit, to all human appearance, as she 
could be. She said she hurried home from my room in the 
morning, and went immediately to her chamber, and cast 
herself down before God, and made a thorough consecration 
of herself and of her all to him. She said she had clearer 
apprehensions by far of what was meant by that, than she 
had ever had before ; and she made a full and complete res- 
ignation of herself and everything into the hands of Christ. 
Her mind became at once entirely calm, and she felt that 
she began to receive of the fulness of the Holy Spirit. In a 
very short time she seemed to be lifted up above herself, and 
her joy was so great that she could hardly refrain from 
shouting. 

I had some conversation with her, and saw that she was 
in danger of being over excited. I said as much as I dared 
to say, to put her on her guard against this, and she went 
home. 

A few days afterwards her husband called on me one 
morning with his sleigh, and asked me to take a ride with 
him. I did so, and found that his object was to talk with 
me about his wife. He said that she was brought up among 
the Friends, and when he married her, he thought she was 
one of the most perfect women that he ever knew. But 
finally, he said, she became converted, and then he observed 
a greater change in her than he thought was possible ; for 
he thought her as perfectly moral in her outward life before 
as she could be. Nevertheless, the change in her spirit and 
bearing, at the time of her conversion, was so manifest, he 
said, that no one could doubt it. " Since then," he said, 



424 MEMOIBS OF CHABLES G. FINtfEI. 

" I have thought her almost or quite perfect. But," said 
he, "now she has manifestly passed through a greater 
change than ever. I see it in everything," said he. " There 
is such a spirit in her, such a change, such an energy in her 
religion, and such a fulness of joy and peace and love ! " 
He inquired, " What shall I make of it ? How am I to 
understand this ? Do such changes really take plaoe in 
Christian people ? " 

I explained it to him as best I could. I tried to make 
him understand what she was by her education as a Quaker, 
and what her conversion had done for her ; and then told 
him that this was a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, that 
had so greatly changed her at that time. She has since 
passed away to heaven ; but the savor of that anointing of 
the Holy Spirit remained with her, as I have been informed, 
to the day of her death. 

There is one circumstance that I have often heard Mrs. 
Finney relate, that occurred in her meetings, that is worth 
notice here. Her ladies' meetings were composed of the 
more intelligent ladies in the different churches. Many of 
them were probably fastidious. But there was an elderly 
and uneducated old woman that attended their meetings, 
and that used to speak, sometimes, apparently to the annoy- 
ance of the ladies. Somehow she had the impression that it 
was her duty to speak at every meeting ; and sometimes she 
would get up and complain of the Lord, that he laid it upon 
her to speak in meeting, while so many ladies of education 
were allowed to attend and take no part. She wondered 
why it was that God made it her duty to speak ; while these 
fine ladies, who could speak so much to edification, were 
allowed to attend and "have no cross," as she expressed it, 
"to take up." She seemed always to speak in a whining 
and complaining manner. The part that she felt it her duty 
to take in every meeting, a good deal annoyed and discour- 
aged my wife. She saw that it did not interest the ladies : 
and it seemed to her rather an element of disturbance. 



/ 



LABORS IK SYRACUSE. 425 



But after things had gone on in this way for some time, 
one day this same old woman arose in meeting, and a new 
spirit was upon her. As soon as she opened her mouth 
it was apparent to every body that a great change had come 
over her. She had come to the meeting full of the Holy 
Ghost, and she poured out her fresh experience, to the aston- 
ishment of all. The ladies were greatly interested in what 
the old woman said ; and she went forward with an earnest- 
ness in relating what the Lord had done for her, that carried 
conviction to every mind. All turned and leaned toward 
her, to hear every word that she said, the tears began to 
flow, and a great movement of the Spirit seemed to be visi- 
ble at once throughout the meeting. Such a remarkable 
change wrought immense good, and the old woman became 
a favorite. After that they expected to hear from her ; and 
were greatly delighted from meeting to meeting to hear 
her tell what the Lord had done, and was doing for her 
soul. 

I found in Syracuse a Christian woman whom they called 
" Mother Austin," a woman of most remarkable faith. She 
was poor, and entirely dependent upon the charity of the 
people for subsistence. She was an uneducated woman, and 
had been brought up manifestly in a family of very little 
cultivation. But she had such faith as to secure the confi- 
dence of all who knew her. The conviction seemed to be 
universal among both Christians and unbelievers, that 
mother Austin was a saint. I do not think I ever witnessed 
greater faith in its simplicity than was manifested by that 
woman. A great many facts were related to me respecting 
her, that showed her trust in God, and in what a remarkable 
manner God provided for her wants from day to day. She 
said to me on one occasion, " Brother Einney, it is impos- 
sible for me to suffer for any of the necessaries of life, be- 
cause God has said to me, ' Trust in the Lord and do good : 
so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be 
fed. ' " She related to me many facts in her history, and 



426 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

many facts were related to me by others, illustrative of the 
power of her faith. 

She said, one Saturday evening a friend of hers, but an 
impenitent man, called to see her ; and after conversing 
awhile he offered her, as he went away, a five dollar bilL 
She said that she felt an inward admonition not to take it 
She felt that it would be an act of self-righteousness on the 
part of that man, and might do him more harm than it 
would do her good. She therefore declined to take it, 
and he went away. She said she had just wood and food 
enough in the house to last over the Sabbath, and that was 
all ; and she had no means whatever of obtaining any more. 
But still she was not at all afraid to trust God, in such cir- 
cumstances, as she had done for so many years. 

On the Sabbath-day there came a violent snow-storm. 
On Monday morning the snow was several feet deep, and 
the streets were blocked up so that there was no getting out 
without clearing the way She had a young son that lived 
with her, the two composing the whole family. They 
arose in the morning and found themselves snowed in, on 
every side. They made out to muster fuel enough for a 
little fire, and soon the boy began to inquire what they 
should have for breakfast. She said, " I do not know, my 
son; but the Lord will provide." She looked out, and 
nobody could pass the streets. The lad began to weep 
bitterly, and concluded that they should freeze and starve 
to death. However, she said she went on and made such 
preparations as she could, to provide for breakfast, if any 
should come. I think she said she set her table, and made 
arrangements for her breakfast, believing that some would 
come in due season. Very soon she heard a loud talking in 
the streets, and went to the window to see what it was, and 
beheld a man in a single sleigh, and some men with him 
shoveling the snow so that the horse could get through. 
Up they came to her door, and behold ! they had brought 
her a plenty of fuel and provision, everything to make her 



LABORS m SYRACUSE. 427 

comfortable for several days. But time would fail me to 
tell the instances in which she was helped in a manner as 
striking as this. Indeed, it was notorious through the city, 
so far as I could learn, that Mother Austin's faith was like 
a bank ; and that she never suffered for want of the neces- 
saries of life, because she drew on God. 

I never knew the number of converts at that time in 
Syracuse. Indeed I was never in the habit of ascertaining 
the aumber of hopeful converts. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

LABORS IN WESTERN AND IN ROME, 1854-5. 

THE next winter, at Christmas time, we went again to 
Western, Oneida county, where as I have already re- 
lated, I commenced my labors in the autumn of 1825. The 
people were at this time again without a minister ; and we 
spent several weeks there in very interesting labor, and with 
very marked results. 

Among the striking things that occurred in the revival 
this time, I will mention the case of one young man. 
He was the son of pious parents, and had long been made 
the subject of prayer. His parents were prominent members 
of the church. Indeed, his father was one of the elders of 
the church ; and his mother was a godly, praying woman. 
When I commenced my labors ihere, to the great surprise 
and grief of his parents, and of the Christian people gener- 
ally, he became exceedingly bitter against the preaching, and 
the meetings generally, and all that was done for the promo- 
tion of the revival. He committed himself with all the 
strength of his will against it ; and affirmed, as I was told, 
that " neither Finney nor hell could convert him." He said 
many very hateful and profane things, until his parents 
were deeply grieved ; but I am not aware that he had ever 
been suspected of any outward immorality. 

But the word of God pressed him from day to day, till he 
could stand it no longer. He came one morning to my room. 
His appearance was truly startling. I cannot describe it. 
I seldom ever saw a person whose mind had made such an 
impression upon his countenance. He appeared to be almost 
insane ; and he trembled in such a manner that when he was 



LABORS Ltf WESTERN. 439 

seated, the furniture of the room was sensibly jarred by hia 
trembling. I observed, when 1 took his hand, that it was 
very cold. His lips were blue ; and his whole appearance 
was quite alarming. The fact is, he had stood out against 
his convictions as long as he could endure it. When he sat 
down, I said to him, " My dear young man, what is the mat- 
ter with you?" "0," said he, "I have committed the 
unpardonable sin." I replied, t( What makes you say so ?" 
"0," said he, "I know that I have; and I did it on 
purpose." 

He then related this fact of himself. Said he, "Several 
years ago a book was put into my hands called, ' The pirate's 
own book.' I read it, and it produced a most extraordinary 
effect upon my mind. It inspired me with a kind of terri- 
ble and infernal ambition to be the greatest pirate that ever 
lived. I made up my mind to be at the head of all the high- 
way robbers, and bandits, and pirates whose history was ever 
written. But," said he, "my religious education was in my 
way. The teaching and prayers of my parents seemed to 
rise up before me, so that I could not go forward. But I 
had heard that it was possible to grieve the Spirit of God 
away, and to quench his influence so that one would feel it 
no more. I had read also that it was possible to sear my 
conscience, so that that would not trouble me ; and after my 
resolution was taken, my first business was to get rid of my 
religious convictions, so as to be able to go on and perpetrate 
all manner of robberies and murders, without any compunc- 
tion of conscience. I therefore set myself deliberately to 
blaspheme the Holy Ghost." He then told me in what man- 
ner he did this, and what he said to the Holy Ghost ; but it 
^vas too blasphemous to repeat. 

He continued : "I then felt that it must be that the 
Spirit of God would leave me, and that my conscience would 
no more trouble me. After a little while I made up my 
mind that I would commit some crime, and see how it would 
affect me. There was a school -house across the way from 



430 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

our house ; and one evening I went and set it on fire. I 
then went to my room, and to bed. Soon, however, the fire 
was discovered. I arose, and mingled with the crowd that 
gathered to put it out ; but all efforts were in vain, and it 
burnt to the ground." To burn a building in that way, was 
a state-prison offence. He was aware of this. I asked him 
if he had gone farther in the commission of crime. He 
replied, "No." And I think he added, that he did not find 
his conscience at rest about it, as he had expected. I asked 
him if he had ever been suspected t£ having burnt it. He 
replied that he did not know that he had ; but that other 
young men had been suspected, and talked about. I asked 
him what he proposed to do about it. He replied that he 
was going to the trustees to confess it ; and he asked me if 
I would not accompany him. 

I went with him to one of the trustees, who lived near ; 
and the young man asked me if I would not tell him the 
facts. I did so. The trustee was a good man, and a great 
friend of the parents of this young man. The announce 
ment affected him deeply. The young man stood speechless 
before him. After conversing with the trustee for a little 
while, I said, " We will go and see the other trustees." The 
gentleman replied, " No, you need not go ; I will see them 
myself, and tell them the whole story." He assured the 
young man that he himself would freely forgive him ; and 
he presumed that the other trustees, and the people in the 
town, would forgive him, and not subject him or his parents 
to any expense about it. 

I then returned to my room, and the young man wont 
home. Still he was not at rest. As I was going to meeting 
in the evening, he met me at the door and said, " I must 
make a public confession. Several young men have been 
suspected of this thing ; and I want the people to know that 
I did it, and that I had no accomplice, that nobody but God 
and myself knew it." And he added : "Mr. Finney, won't 
you tell the people ? I will be present, and say anything 



LABORS IN WESTERN. 431 

that may be necessary to say, if anybody should ask any ques- 
tions ; but I do not feel as if I could open my mouth. You 
can tell them all about it." 

When the people were assembled, I arose and related to 
them the facts. The family was so well known, and so much 
beloved in the community, that the statement made a great 
impression. The people sobbed and wept all over the con- 
gregation. After he had made this full confession he 
obtained peace. Of his religious history since I know not 
much. I have recently learned, however, that he retained 
his hold upon Christ, and did not seem to backslide. He 
went into the army during the rebellion, and was slain at the 
battle of Fort Fisher. 

In giving my narrative of revivals thus far, I have passed 
over a great number of cases of crime, committed by persons 
who came to me for advice, and told me the facts. In many 
instances in these revivals, restitution, sometimes to the 
amount of many thousands of dollars, was made by those 
whose consciences troubled them, either because they had 
obtained the money directly by fraud, or by some selfish 
over-reaching in their business relations. 

The winter that I first spent in Boston, resulted in mak- 
ing a great many such revelations. I had preached there 
one Sabbath in the morning upon this text: " Whoso 
covereth his sins shall not prosper ; " and in the afternoon 
on the remainder of the verse : " But whoso confesseth and 
forsake th them, shall find mercy." I recollect that the re- 
sults of those two sermons were most extraordinary. For 
weeks afterwards, persons of almost all ages, and of both 
sexes, came to me for spiritual advice, disclosing to me the 
fact that they had committed various frauds, and sins of 
almost every description. Some young men had defrauded 
their employers in business ; and some women had stolen 
watches, and almost every article of female appareL Indeed, 
it seemed as if the word of the Lord was sent home with 
Buch power at that time in that city, as to uncover a very 



432 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. F1NXEY. 

den of wickedness. It would certainly take me hours tc 
mention the crimes that came to my personal knowledge 
through the confessions of those that had perpetrated them. 
But in every instance the persons seemed to be thoroughly 
penitent, and were willing to make restitution to the utmost 
of their ability. 

But to return from this digression, to Western. The 
revival was of a very interesting character ; and there was a 
goodly number of souls born to God. The conversion of one 
young lady there I remember with a good deal of interest. 
She was teaching the village school. Her father was, I 
believe, a sceptic ; and as I understood, she was an only 
daughter, and a great favorite with her father. He was a 
man, if I was rightly informed, of considerable influence in 
the town, but did not at all attend our meetings. He lived 
on a farm away from the village. Indeed the village is very 
small, and the inhabitants are scattered through the valley 
of the Mohawk, and over the hills on each side ; so that the 
great mass of inhabitants have to come a considerable dis- 
tance to meeting. 

I had heard that this young woman did not attend our 
meetings much, and that she manifested considerable opposi- 
tion to the work. In passing the school-house one day I 
stepped in to speak with her. At first she appeared sur 
prised to see me come in. I had never been introduced to 
her, and should not have known her, if I had not found her 
in that place. She knew me, however, and at first appeared 
as if she recoiled from my presence. I took her very kindly 
by the hand, and told her that I had dropped in to speak 
with her about her soul. "My child," I said, "how is it 
with you ? Have you given your heart to God ? " This I 
said while I held her hand. Her head fell, and she made 
qo effort to withdraw her hand. I saw in a moment that a 
Bubduing influence came over her, and so deep and remarka- 
ble an influence, that I felt almost assured that she would 
mbmit to God right on the spot. 



LABORS IK ROME. 433 

The most that I expected when I went in, was to have a 
few words with her that I hoped might set her to thinking, 
and to appoint a time to converse with her more at large. 
But the impression was at once so manifest, and she seemed 
to break down in her heart so readily, that with a few sen- 
tences quietly and softly spoken to her, she seemed to give up 
ler opposition, and to he in readiness to lay hold on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. I then asked her if I should say a few 
words to the scholars ; and she said, yes, she wished I would. 
I did so, and then asked her if I should present herself and 
her scholars to God in prayer. She said she wished I would, 
and became very deeply affected in the presence of the 
school. We engaged in prayer, and it was a very solemn, 
melting time. The young lady from that time seemed to be 
subdued, and to have passed from death unto life. She did 
not live long before she passed, I trust, to heaven. 

These two seasons of my being in Western were about 
thirty years apart. Another generation had come to live in 
that place from that which lived there in the first revival in 
which I labored there. I found, however, a few of the old 
members there. But the congregation was mostly new, and 
composed principally of younger people who had grown up 
after the first revival. 

As in the case of the first revival, so in this, the people 
in Rome heard what was passing in Western, and came up 
in considerable numbers to attend our meetings. Phis 
led after a few weeks, to my going down and spending some 
time in Rome. 

The state of religion in Western has, I believe, been very 
much improved since this last revival. The ordinances of 
the Gospel have been maintained, and I believe considerable 

progress has been made in the right direction. The B a 

have all gone from Western, with the exception of one son 
and his family. That large and interesting family have 
melted away ; but one of them being left in Western, one in 
\Jtica, and one son who was converted in the first revival 
19 



434 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FINNEY. 

there, and who has for many years been a minister, and 
pastor of the first Presbyterian church in Water town, 
New York. 

When I was at Rome the first time, and for many years 
after, the church was Congregational. But a few years 
before I was there the last time, they had settled a Presby- 
terian minister, a young man, and he felt that the church 
ought to be Presbyterian instead of Congregational. He 
proposed and recommended this to the church, and suc- 
ceeded in bringing it about ; but to the great dissatisfaction 
of a large number of influential persons in the church. This 
created a very undesirable state of things in Rome ; and 
when I arrived there from Western I was, for the first time, 
made acquainted with that very serious division of feeling in 
the church. Their pastor had lost the confidence and affec- 
tion of a considerable number of very influential members of 
his church. 

When I learned the state of things, I felt confident that 
but little could be done to promote a general revival, unless 
that difficulty could be healed. But it had been talked over 
so much, and the persons first concerned in it had so com- 
mitted themselves, that I labored in vain to bring about a 
reconciliation. It was not a thing to preach about ; but in 
private conversation I tried to pluck up that root of bitter- 
ness. I found the parties did not view the facts alike. I 
kept preaching, however ; and the Spirit of the Lord was 
poured out, conversions were occurring very frequently, and 
T trust great good was done. 

But after endeavoring in vain to secure a union of feel- 
ing and effort such as God would approve, I made up my 
mind to leave them. I have heard since that some of the dis* 
affected members of the church went and joined the church 
m Western, leaving the church in Rome altogether. I pre- 
sume the pastor did what he deemed to be his duty in that 
controversy, but the consequent divisions were exceedingly 
painful to me, as I felt a peculiar interest in that church. 



OHAPTEE XXXII. 

BBVIVAL IN ROCHESTER IN 1855. 

IN the autumn of 1855, we were called again to ike citj 
of Bochester to labor for souls. At first I had no mind 
ho go, but a messenger arrived with a pressing request, bear- 
ing the signatures of a large number of persons, both pro- 
fessors of religion and non-professors. After much delib- 
eration and prayer I consented. We commenced our labors 
there, and it was very soon apparent that the Spirit of God 
was working among the people. Some Christians in that 
place, and especially the brother who came after me, had 
been praying most earnestly all summer for the outpouring 
of the Spirit there. A few souls had been wrestling with God 
until they felt that they were on the eve of a great revival. 
When I stated my objections to going to labor in Eochester 
again, the brother who came after me set that all aside by say- 
ing, " The Lord is going to send you to Eochester, and you 
will go to Eochester this winter, and we shall have a great re- 
vival." I made up my mind with much hesitancy after all. 
But when I arrived there, I was soon convinced that it was 
of God. I began preaching in the different churches. Th6 
First Presbyterian church in that city was Old School, and 
they did not open their doors to our meeting. But the Con- 
gregational church, and the two other Presbyterian churches 
with their pastors, took hold of the work and entered into it 
with spirit and success. The Baptist churches also entered 
into the work at this time ; and the Methodist churches 
labored in their own way, to extend the work. We held 
daily noon prayer-meetings, which were largely attended, 
and in whio^ a most excellent spirit prevailed. 



436 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FItftfEY. 

Soon after I commenced my labors there, a request waa 
sent to me, signed by the members of the bai and several 
judges — two judges of the court of appeals, and I believe 
one or two judges of the supreme court who resided there- 
asking me to preach again a course of lectures to lawyers, on 
the moral government of God. I complied with their 
request. I began my course to lawyers this time by preach- 
ing first on the text : " Commending ourselves to every 
man's conscience in the sight of God." I began by remark- 
ing that the text assumed that every man has a conscience. 
I then gave a definition of conscience, and proceeded to 
show what every man's conscience does truly affirm ; that 
every man knows himself to be a sinner against God ; that 
therefore he knows that God must condemn him as a sinner ; 
and that every man knows that his own conscience condemns 
him as a sinner. I was aware that among the lawyers were 
some sceptics. Indeed one of them had a few months 
before declared that he would never again attend a Chris- 
tian meeting; that he did not believe in the Christian 
religion, and he would not appear to do so ; that it placed 
him in a false position, and his mind was made up to pay 
no more respect to the institutions of Christianity. 

I shaped my lectures from evening to evening, with the 
design to convince the lawyers that, if the Bible was not true, 
there was no hope for them. I endeavored to show that 
they could not infer that God would forgive them because 
he was good, for his goodness might prevent his forgiving 
them. It might not on the whole be wise and good to 
pardon such a world of sinners as we know ourselves to be ; 
hat left without the Bible to throw light upon that ques- 
tion, it was impossible for human reason to come to the 
conclusion that sinners could be saved. Admitting that 
God was infinitely benevolent, we could not infer from that, 
that any sinner could be forgiven ; but must infer from it, 
on the contrary, that impenitent sinners could not be 
forgiven. I endeavored to clear the way so as to shut them 



BEVIYAL IN ROCHESTER 43? 

Qp to the Bible as revealing the only rational way in which 
they could expect salvation. 

At the close of my first lecture, I heard that the lawyer 
to whom I have referred, who had said he would never 
attend another Christian meeting, remarked to a friend as 
he went home, that he had been mistaken, that he was sat- 
isfied there was more in Christianity than he had supposed, 
and he did not see any way to escape the argument to which 
he had listened ; and furthermore that he should attend all 
those lectures, and make up his mind in view of the facta 
and arguments that should be presented. 

I continued to press this point upon their attention, until 
I felt that they were effectually shut up to Christ, and the 
revelations made in the Gospel, as their only hope. But as 
yet, I had not presented Christ, but left them shut up under 
the law, condemned by their own consciences, and sentenced 
to eternal death. This, as I expected, effectually prepared 
the way for a cordial reception of the blessed Gospel. When 
I came to bring out the Gospel as revealing the only possible 
or conceivable way of salvation for sinners, they gave way, as 
they had done under a former course of lectures, in former 
years. They began to break down, and a large proportion 
of them were hopefully converted. 

What was quite remarkable in the three revivals that 1 
have witnessed in Kochester, they all commenced and made 
their first progress among the higher classes of society. 
This was very favorable to the general spread of the work, 
and to the overcoming of opposition. 

There were many very striking cases of conversion in this 
revival, as in the revival that preceded it. The work 
Bpread and excited so much interest, that it became the gen- 
eral topic of conversation throughout the city and the sur- 
rounding region of country. Merchants arranged to have 
their clerks attend, a part of them one day, and a part the 
next day. The work became so general throughout the city 
that in all places of public resort, in stores and publio 



138 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

houses, in banks, in the street and in public conveyances, 
and everywhere, the work of salvation that was going on was 
the absorbing topic. 

Men that had stood out in the former revivals, many of 
them bowed to Christ in this. Some men who had been open 
Sabbath-breakers, others that had been openly profane, 
indeed, all classes of persons, from the highest to the lowest, 
from the richest to the poorest, were visited by the power of 
this revival and brought to Christ. I continued there 
throughout the winter, the revival increasing continually, 
to the last. Rev. Dr. Anderson, president of the University, 
engaged in the work with great cordiality, and, as I under- 
stood, a large number of the students in the University were 
converted at that time. The pastors of the two Baptist 
churches took hold of the effort, and I preached several times 
in their churches. 

Mrs. Finney was well acquainted in Rochester, having 
lived there for many years, and having witnessed the two 
great revivals in which I had labored, that preceded this. 
She took an absorbing interest in this revival, and labored, 
as usual, with great zeal and success. As on former occa- 
sions, I found the people of Rochester, like the noble Bereans, 
ready to "hear the word with all readiness of mind, and to 
search the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so." 
Many of the ladies in Rochester exerted their utmost influ- 
ence to bring all classes to meeting and to Christ. Some of 
them would visit the stores and places of business, and use 
all their influence to secure the attendance, at our meetings, 
of the persons engaged in these establishments. Many men 
connected with the operations of the railroad were converted, 
and finally, much of the Sabbath business of the roads was 
suspended, because of the great religious movement in the 
city and among those employed upon the roads. 

The blessed work of grace extended and increased until 
it seemed as if the whole city would be converted. As in 
the former revivals, the work spread from this centre to the 



BEYIYAL D* BOCHESTER. 439 

surrounding towns and villages. It has been quite remarka- 
ble that revivals in Kochester have had so great an influence 
upon other cities and villages far and near. 

The means used to promote this revival were the same as 
had been used in each of the preceding great revivals. The 
same doctrines were preached. The same measures were 
used, with results in all respects similar to what had been 
realized in the former revivals. There was manifested, as 
there had previously been, an earnest and candid attention 
to the word preached ; a most intelligent inquiry after the 
truth as it really is taught in the Bible. I never preached 
anywhere with more pleasure than in Rochester. They are 
a highly intelligent people, and have ever manifested a can- 
dor, an earnestness, and an appreciation of the truth excel- 
ling anything I have seen, on so large a scale, in any other 
place. I have labored in other cities where the people were 
even more highly educated than in Rochester. But in those 
cities the views and habits of the people were more stereo- 
typed ; the people were more fastidious, more afraid of 
measures than in Rochester. In New England I have found 
a high degree of general education, but a timidity, a stiff- 
ness, a formality, and a stereotyped way of doing things, that 
has rendered it impossible for the Holy Spirit to work with 
freedom and power. 

When I was laboring in Hartford I was visited by a min- 
ister from central New York who had witnessed the glori- 
ous revivals in that region. He attended our meetings and 
observed the type and progress of the work there. I said 
nothing to him of the formality of our prayer-meetings, or 
of the timidity of the people in the use of measures, but he 
remarked to me, " Why, Brother Finney, your hands are tied, 
you are hedged in by their fears and by the stereotyped way 
of doing everything. They have even put the Holy Ghost 
into a strait jacket." This was strong, and to some may 
appear irreverent and profane, but he intended no such 
thing. He was a godly, earnest, humble minister of Jesus 



440 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

Christ, and expressed just what he saw and felt, and just 
what I saw and felt, that the Holy Spirit was restrained 
greatly in his work by the fears and the self- wisdom of the 
people. Indeed I must say, I do not think the people of 
New England can at all appreciate the restraints which they 
impose on the Holy Spirit, in working out the salvation of 
souls. Nor can they appreciate the power and purity of 
the revivals in those places where these fears, prejudices, 
restraints, and self- wisdom do not exist. 

In an intelligent, educated community, great freedom may 
be given in the use of means, without danger of disorder. 

Indeed wrong ideas of what constitutes disorder, are very 
prevalent. Most churches call anything disorder to which 
they have not been accustomed. Their stereotyped ways are 
God's order in their view, and whatever differs from these is 
disorder and shocks their ideas of propriety. But in fact 
nothing is disorder that simply meets the necessities of the 
people. In religion as in every thing else, good sense and a 
sound discretion will, from time to time, judiciously adapt 
means to ends. The measures needed will be naturally sug- 
gested to those who witness the state of things, and if pray- 
erfuUy and cautiously used, let great freedom be given to 
the \r flaences of the Holy Spirit in all hearts. 



CHAPTER XXXIIL 

RBVIVALS IN BOSTON IN 1856, '57, '58. 

THE next autumn we accepted an invitation to laboi 
again in Boston. We began our labors at Park street, 
and the Spirit of God immediately manifested bis willing- 
ness to save souls. The first sermon that I preached was 
directed to the searching of the church ; for I always began 
by trying to stir up a thorough and pervading interest 
among professors of religion; to secure the reclaiming of 
those that were backslidden, and search out those that were 
self-deceived, and if possible bring them to Christ. 

After the congregation was dismissed, and the pastor was 
standing with me in the pulpit, he said to me, " Brother 
Finney, I wish to have you understand that I need to have 
this preaching as much as any member of this church. I 
have been very much dissatisfied with my religious state for 
a long time ; and have sent for you on my own account, and 
for the sake of my own soul, as well as for the sake of the 
souls of the people. " "We had at different times protracted 
and very interesting conversations. He seemed thoroughly 
to give his heart to God. And one evening at a prayer and 
conference meeting, as I understood, he related to the peo- 
ple his experience, and told them that he had been that day 
converted. 

This of course produced a very deep impression upon the 
church and congregation, and upon the city quite extensively. 
Some of the pastors thought that it was injudicious for him 
to make a thing of that kind so public. But I did not 
regard it in that light. It manifestly was the best means he 
could use for the salvation of his people, and highly cal* 
19* 



4A2 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. TICKET. 

ciliated to produce among professors of religion generally a 
very great searching of heart 

The work was quite extensive that winter in Boston, and 
many very striking cases of conversion occurred. "We labored 
there until spring, and then thought it necessary to return 
to our labors at home. But it was very manifest that the 
work in that city was by no means done ; and we left with 
the promise that, the Lord willing, we would return and 
labor there the next winter. Accordingly the next autumn 
we returned to Boston. 

In the meantime one of the pastors of the city, who had 
been in Europe the previous winter, had been writing some 
articles, which were published in the Congregationalist, 
opposing our return there. He regarded my theology, espe- 
cially on the subject of sanctification, as unsound. This 
opposition produced an effect, and we felt at once that there 
was a jar among the Christian people. Some of the leading 
members of his church, who the winter before had entered 
heart and soul into the work, stood aloof, and did not come 
near our meetings ; and it was evident that his whole influ- 
ence, which was considerable at that time in the city, was 
against the work. This made some of his good people 
very sad. 

This winter of 1857-58 will be remembered as the time 
when a great revival prevailed throughout all the Northern 
states. It swept over the land with such power, that for a 
time it was estimated that not less than fifty thousand con- 
versions occurred in a single week. This revival had some 
very peculiarly interesting features. It was carried on to a 
large extent through lay influence, so much so as almost to 
throw the ministers into the shade. There had been a daily 
prayer-meeting observed m Boston for several years ; and in 
the autumn previous to the great outburst, the daily prayer- 
meeting had been established in Fulton street, New York, 
which has been continued to this day. Indeed, daily prayer- 
meetings were established throughout the length and breadth 



BEYIYALS IK BOSTON. 443 

of the Northern states. I recollect in one of our prayer-meet- 
ings in Boston that winter, a gentleman arose and said, " I 
am from Omaha, in Nebraska. On my journey East I have 
found a continuous prayer-meeting all the way. We call it," 
said he, "about two thousand miles from Omaha to Boston ; 
and here was a prayer-meeting about two thousand miles in 
extent." 

In Boston we had to struggle, as I have intimated, 
against this divisive influence, whicn set the religious in- 
terest a good deal back from where we had left it the spring 
before. However, the work continued steadily to increase, 
in the midst of these unfavorable conditions. It was evident 
that the Lord intended to make a general sweep in Boston. 
Finally it was suggested that a business-men's prayer-meet- 
ing should be established, at twelve o'clock, in the chapel of 
the Old South church, which was very central for business 
men. The Christian friend, whose guests we were, secured 
the use of the room, and advertised the meeting. But 
whether such a meeting would succeed in Boston at that 
time, was considered doubtful. However, this brother called 
the meeting; and to the surprise of almost everybody the 
place was not only crowded, but multitudes could not get in 
at all. This meeting was continued, day after day, with 
wonderful results. The place was, from the first, too strait 
for them, and other daily meetings were established in other 
parts of the city. 

Mrs. Finney held ladies' meetings daily at the large 
vestry of Park street. These meetings became so crowded, 
that the ladies would fill the room, and then stand abtfut 
the door on the outside, as far as they could hear on every 
side. 

One of our daily prayer-meetings was held at Park street 
church, which would be full whenever it was open for 
prayer ; and this was the case with many other meetings in 
different parts of the city. The population, large as it was, 
seemed to be moved throughout. The revival became too 



444 MEMOIRS OP CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

general to keep any account at all of the number of conver 
Bions, or to allow of any estimate being made that would 
approximate the truth. All classes of people were inquiring 
everywhere. Many of the Unitarians became greatly inter- 
ested, and attended our meetings in large numbers. 

This revival is of so recent date that I need not enlarge 
apon it, because it became almost universal throughout the 
Northern states. A divine influence seemed to pervade the 
whole land. Slavery seemed to shut it out from the South. 
The people there were in such a state of irritation, of vexa- 
tion, and of committal to their peculiar institution, which 
had come to be assailed on every side, that the Spirit of God 
seemed to be grieved away from them. There seemed to be 
no place found for him in the hearts of the Southern people 
at that time. It was estimated that during this revival not 
less than five hundred thousand souls were converted in this 
country. 

As I have said, it was carried on very much through the 
instrumentality of prayer- meetings, personal visitation and 
conversation, by the distribution of tracts, and by the ener- 
getic efforts of the laity, men and women. Ministers 
nowhere opposed it that I am aware of. I believe they 
universally sympathized with it. But there was such a 
general confidence in the prevalence of prayer, that the 
people very extensively seemed to prefer meetings for prayer 
to meetings for preaching. The general impression seemed 
to be, ' ' We have had instruction until we are hardened ; it 
is time for us to pray." The answers to prayer were 
constant, and so striking as to arrest the attention of the 
people generally throughout the land. It was evident that in 
answer to prayer the windows of heaven were opened and 
the Spirit of God poured out like a flood. The New York 
Tribune at that time published several extras, filled with 
accounts of the progress of the revival in different parts of 
the United States. 

I have said there were some very striking instances of 



REVIVALS IN BOSTON. 445 

conversion in this revival in Boston. One day I received an 
anonymous letter, from a lady, asking my advice in regard 
to t\ie state of her soul. Usually I took no notice whatever 
of anonymous letters. But the handwriting, the manifest 
taler I displayed in the letter, together with the unmistakable 
earnestness of the writer, led me to give it unwonted atten- 
tion. She concluded by requesting me to answer it, and 

direct it to Mrs. M , and leave it with the sexton of the 

church cvhere I was to preach that night, and she should 
get it. I was at this time preaching around from evening 
to evenvLg in different churches. I replied to this anony- 
mous letter, that I could not give her the advice which she 
sought, beoause I was not well enough acquainted with her 
history, 01 with the real state of her mind. But I would 
venture to call her attention to one fact, which was very 
apparent, not only in her letter but also in the fact of her 
not putting her name to it, that she was a very proud 
woman ; and that that fact she needed thoroughly to con- 
sider. 

I left my reply with the sexton, as she requested, and 
the next morning a lady called to see me. As soon as she 
came in, she informed me that she was the lady that wrote 
that anonymous letter ; and she had called to tell me that 
I was mistaken in thinking that she was proud. She said 
that she was far enough from that ; but she was a member 
of the Episcopal church, and did not want to disgrace her 
church by revealing the fact that she was not converted. I 
replied, "It is church pride, then, that kept you from, 
revealing your name. " This touched her so deeply that sho 
arose, and in a manifest excitement left the room. I e> 
pected to see her no more ; but that evening I found her, 
after preaching, among the inquirers in the vestry. In pass- 
ing around I observed this lady. She was manifestly a woman 
of intelligence and education, and I could perceive that she 
belonged to cultivated society. But as yet I did not know 
her name ; for our conversation that morning had not lasted 



446 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

more than a minute or two, before she left the room as I 
have related. As I observed her in passing around, I re- 
marked to her quietly, "And you here?" " Yes," she 
replied, and dropped her head as if she felt deeply. I had a 
few words of kind conversation with her, and it passed for 
that evening. 

In these inquiry meetings I always urged the necessity 
of immediate submission to Christ, and brought them face 
to face with that duty ; and I then called on such as were 
prepared to commit themselves unalterably to Christ, to 
kneel down. I observed when I made this call, that she 
was among the first that made a movement to kneel. The 
next morning she called on me again at an early hour. As 
soon as we were alone, she opened her mind to me and said, 
" I see, Mr. Finney, that I have been very proud. I have 
come to tell you who I am, and to give you such facts in 
regard to my history, that you may know what to say to me." 
She was, as I had supposed, a woman in high life, the wife 
of a wealthy gentleman, who was himself a sceptic. She 
had made a profession of religion, but was unconverted. 
She was very frank in this interview, and threw her mind 
open to instruction very cordially ; and either at that time 
or immediately after, she expressed hope in Christ, and 
became a very earnest Christian. She is a remarkable writer, 
and could more nearly report my sermons, without short- 
hand, than any person I ever knew. She used to come and 
sit and write my sermons with a rapidity and an accuracy 
that were quite astonishing. She sent copies of her notes to 
a great many of her friends, and exerted herself to the utmost 
to secure the conversion of her friends in Boston and else- 
where. With this lady I have had much correspondence. 
She has always manifested that same earnestness in religion, 
that she did at that time. She has always some good work 
in hand ; and is an earnest laborer for the poor, and for all 
classes that need her instruction, her sympathy, and her 
help. She has passed through many mental struggles, sur- 



BEYIVALS IN BOSTON. 447 

rounded as she is by such temptations to worldliness. But 
I trust that she has been, and will be, an ornament to the 
church of Christ. 

The revival extended from Boston to Charlestown and 
Chelsea. In short it spread on every side. I preached in 
East Boston and Charlestown ; and for a considerable time 
In Chelsea, where the revival became very general and pre- 
cious. We continued to labor in Boston that winter, until it 
was time for us to return to our labors at home in the spring. 
When we left, the work was in its full strength without any 
apparent abatement at all. 

The church and ministry in this country had become so 
very extensively engaged in promoting the revival, and such 
was the blessing of God attending the exertions of laymen as 
well as of ministers, that I made up my mind to return and 
spend another season in England, and see if the same influ- 
ence would not pervade that country. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



SECOND VISIT TO ENGLAND. 



WE sailed for Liverpool in the steamer Persia, in 
December, 1858. Our friend Brown came to Liver- 
pool to meet us, to induce us to labor in Houghton for a sea- 
son, before we committed ourselves to any other field. Imme- 
diately on our arrival, I received a great number of letters 
from different parts of England, expressing great joy at our 
return and inviting us to come and labor in many different 
fields. However I spent several weeks laboring in Houghton 
and Saint Ives, where we saw precious revivals. In Saint 
Ives they had never had a revival before. In Houghton 
we had labored during our first visit to England, and saw a 
very interesting work of gra&?3- 

At this time we found at Saint Ives a very singular state 
of things. There was but one Independent church, the 
pastor of which had been there a good many years, but had 
not succeeded in doing much as a minister. He was a mys- 
terious sort of man. He was very fond of wine and a great 
opposer of total abstinence. We held our meetings in a hall 
which would accommodate more people, by far, than the 
Congregational church. I sometimes preached, however, in 
the church ; but it was a less desirable place to preach in 
than the hall, as it was a very small and incommodious 
hcase. 

The revival took powerful effect there, notwithstanding 
the position of the minister. He stood firmly against it until 
the interest became so great that he left the town, and was 
absent, I know not where, for several weeks. Smce that 
time the converts of the revival, together with my friend 



SECOND VISIT TO ENGLAND. 449 

Brown, and some of the older members of the church, have 
put up a fine chapel, and the religious condition of the place 
has been exceedingly different from what it ever had been 
before. 

Mr. Harcourt, the former pastor at Houghton, had proved 
himself a very successful minister, and had been called to 
London, to Borough Boad chapel. Here I found him on 
my second visit to England. He had been awaiting, with 
anxiety, our return to England ; and as soon as he heard we 
were there, he used most strenuous efforts to secure our 
labors with him in London. The church over which he pre- 
sided in London, had been torn to pieces by most ultra and 
fanatical views on the subject of temperance. They had had 
a lovely pastor, whose heart had been almost broken by their 
feuds upon that subject, and he had finally left the church in 
utter discouragement. Their deacons had been compelled 
to resign, and the church was in a sad state of disorganiza- 
tion. Brother Harcourt informed me that unless the church 
could be converted, he was satisfied he never could succeed 
in doing much in that field. 

As soon as we could leave Saint Ives we went to London, 
to see what could be done in his church and congregation. 
We found them, as he had represented, in so demoralized a 
state that it seemed questionable whether the church could 
ever be resuscitated and built up. However we went to 
work, my wife among the ladies of the congregation, and I 
went to preaching, and searching them, to the utmost of my 
strength. It was very soon perceptible that the Spirit of 
God was poured out, and that the church were very gener- 
ally in a state of great conviction. The work deepened and 
spread till it reached, I believe, every household belonging 
to that congregation. All the old members of the church 
were so searched that they made confession one to another, 
and settled their difficulties ; and Mr. Harcourt told me, 
before I left, that his church was entirely a new church, 
that the blessing of God had been universal among them, so 



4:50 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

that all their old animosities were healed ; and that he had 
the greatest comfort in them. Indeed the work in that 
church was really most wonderful. I directed my labors, for 
several weeks, to the church itself. Mr. Harcourt had been 
praying for them, and laboring with them, till he was almost 
iiscouraged ; but the blessing at last came, in such fulness, 
is to meet the longings of his heart. His people were recon- 
verted and cemented together in love, and they learned to 
take hold of the work themselves. 

Some years after my return to this country, Mr. Har- 
court came over and made us a visit. This was a little 
while after the death of my dear wife. He then told me 
that the work had continued in his church up to that time, 
that his people felt that if there were not more or less con^ 
versions every week, something was entirely wrong. They 
were frightened if the work was not perceptibly and con- 
stantly going forward. He said they stood by him, and he 
felt every Sabbath as if he was in the midst of a praying 
atmosphere. Indeed his report of the results of that revival 
ap to the time of his leaving, was deeply interesting. Con- 
sidering what the church had been, and what it was after 
the revival, it is no wonder that Mr. Harcourt's heart was as 
full as it could hold of thanksgiving to God for such a 
blessing. 

In this place, as had been the case before at Dr. Camp- 
bell's, there were great revelations made of iniquity that had 
been covered up for a long time, among professors of re- 
ligion. These cases were frequently brought to my notice 
by persons coming to me to ask for advice. Not only did 
professors of religion come, but numbers that had never 
made a profession of religion, who became terribly convicted 
of sin. 

Soon after I began my labors at this time in London, a 
Dr. Tregelles, a distinguished literary man and professed 
theologian, wrote to Dr. Campbell, calling his attention to 
what he regarded as a great error in my theology. In treat- 



SECOXD VISIT TO EKGLA^Di 451 

ing upon the conditions of salvation, I had said in my 
Systematic Theology, that the atonement of Christ was one 
of the conditions. I said that God's infinite love was the 
foundation or source from which the whole movement 
sprung, but that the conditions upon which we could be 
saved, were the atonement of Christ, faith, and repentance. 
To this statement Dr. Tregelles took great exceptions. 

Strange to tell, instead of going to my theology, and 
seeing just what I did say, Dr. Campbell took it up in his 
paper and agreed with Dr. Tregelles, and wrote several 
articles in opposition to what he supposed to be my views. 
They, both of them, strangely misunderstood my position, 
and got up in England, at this time, a good deal of opposi- 
tion to my labors. Dr. Campbell, it appeared, after all, had 
no doubt of my orthodoxy. Dr. Bedford insisted that my 
statement of the matter was right, and that any other state- 
ment was far from being right. However, I paid no 
attention, publicly, to Dr. Campbell's strictures on the 
subject. He afterwards wrote me a letter, which I have 
now in my possession, subscribing fully to my orthodoxy and 
to my views ; but saying that, unfortunately, I made dis- 
criminations in my theology that common people did not 
understand. The fact is, a great many people understood 
them better than the Doctor did himself. 

He had been educated in Scotland, and was, after the 
straitest sect, a Scotch theologian ; consequently my new- 
school statements of doctrine puzzled him, and it took him 
some time to understand them. I found when I first arrived 
in England that their theology was to a very great extent dog- 
matic, in the sense that it rested on authority. They had their 
Thirty-nine Articles in the Established church, and their 
Westminster Confession of faith ; and these they regarded 
as authority. They were not at all in the habit of trying to 
prove the positions taken in these " standards," as they were 
called ; but dealt them out as dogmas. When I began to preach 
they were surprised that I reasoned with the people. Dr. 



452 MEMOIRS OF CHAELES G. FltfNBT. 

Campbell did not approve it, and insisted that it would do 
no good. But the people felt otherwise ; and it was not un- 
common for me to receive such intelligence as this, that my 
reasonings had convinced them of what they had always 
doubted ; and that my preaching was logical instead of dog- 
matic, and therefore met the wants of the people. 

I had myself, before I was converted, felt greatly the 
want of instruction and logical preaching from the pulpit. 
This experience always had a great influence upon my own 
preaching. I knew how thinking men felt when a minister 
took for granted the very things that needed proof. I there- 
fore used to take great pains to meet the wants of persons 
who were in this state of mind. I knew what my difficulties 
had been, and therefore I endeavored to meet the intellect- 
ual wants of my hearers. 

I told Dr. Campbell this ; but at first he had no faith 
that the people would understand me and appreciate my 
reasonings. But when he came to receive the converts, and 
to converse personally with them, he confessed to me again 
and again his surprise that they had so well understood my 
reasonings. " Why," he would say, " they are theologians." 
He was very frank, and confessed to me how erroneous hia 
views had been upon that subject. 

After I had finished my labors at Borough Road chapel, 
we left London and rested a few weeks at Houghton. Such 
was the state of my health that I thought I must return 

home. But Dr. F , an excellent Christian man living in 

Huntington, urged us very much to go to his house and 
finish our rest, and let him do what he could for me as 
a physician. We accepted his invitation and went to his 
house. He had a family of eight children, all unconverted. 
The oldest son was also a physician. He was a young man 
of remarkable talents, but a thorough sceptic. He had em- 
braced Comte'e philosophy, and had settled down in extreme 
yiews of atheism, or I should say, of nihilism. He seemed 
not to believe anything. He was a very affectionate son 



SECOND VISIT TO ENGLAND. 458 

but his scepticism had deeply wounded his father, and for 
his conversion he had come to feel an unutterable longing. 

After remaining at the doctor's two or three weeks, with- 
out medicine, my health became such that I began to preach. 
There never had been a revival in Huntington, and they 
really had no conception of what a revival would be. I 
occupied what they called " Temperance Hall," the only 
large hall in the town. It was immediately filled, and the 
Spirit of the Lord was soon poured out upon the people. I 

soon found opportunity to converse with young Dr. F . 

I drew him out into some long walks, and entered fully into 
an investigation of his views ; and finally, under God, suc- 
ceeded in bringing him to a perfect stand-still. He saw that 
all his philosophy was vain. At this time I preached one 
Sabbath evening on the text : " The hail shall sweep away 
the refuges of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding- 
places. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and 
your agreement with hell shall not stand." I spent my 
strength in searching out the refuges of lies, and exposing 
them ; and concluded with a picture of the hail-storm, and 
the descending torrent of rain that swept away what the 
hail had not demolished. The impression on the congrega- 
tion was at the time very deep. That night young Dr. 

F could not sleep. His father went to his room, and 

found him in the greatest consternation and agony of mind. 
At length he became calm, and to all appearance passed 
from death unto life. The prayers of the father and the 
mother for their children were heard. The revival went 
through their family, and converted every one of them. It 
was a joyful house, and one of the most lovely families that 
I ever had the privilege of residing in. We remained at 
their house while we continued our labors in Huntington. 

The revival took a very general hold of the church, and 
of professors of religion in that town, and spread extensively 
among the unconverted ; and greatly changed the religious 
aspect of the town. There was then no Congregational 



454 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIKtfEY. 

church there. There were two or three churches of tke 
Establishment, one Methodist, and one Baptist, at that time 
in Huntington. Since then the converts of that revival, 
together with Mr. Brown and his son, and those Christians 
that were blest in the revival, have united and built, as I 
onderstand, a commodious chapel at Huntington, as they did 
at St. Ives. 

Mr. Brown had pushed his work of evangelization with 
such energy, that when I arrived in England the second 
time, I found that he had seven churches in as many differ- 
ent villages in his neighborhood, and was employing preach- 
ers, and teachers, and laborers, to the number of twenty. 
His means of doing good have fully kept pace with his 
princely outlays for souls. When I first arrived in England, 
he was running a hired flouring mill, with ten pairs of 
stones ; the second time I was there, in addition to this, he 
was running a mill which he had built at Saint Ives, at an 
expense of twenty thousand pounds sterling, with sixteen 
pairs of stones. He afterward built, at Huntington, another 
mill of the same capacity. Thus God poured into his coffers 
as fast as he poured out into the treasury of the Lord. 

From Huntington we returned to London, and labored 
for several weeks in the north-eastern part of the city, in 
several chapels occupied by a branch of the Methodist church. 
One of the places of worship was in Spitalsfield, the house 
having been originally built, I think, by the Huguenots. It 
was a commodious place of worship, and we had a glorious 
work of grace there, which continued till late in the 
summer. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

LABOBS IN 3COTLAND AND IN ENGLAND. 

WHILE I was at this time in London, I was invited 
very urgently to visit Edinburgh in Scotland ; and 
about the middle of August we left London and took passage 
by steam up the coast, through the German ocean, to Edin- 
burgh. I had been urged to go there by the Rev. Dr. Kirk, 
of Edinburgh, who belonged to that portion of the church 
in Scotland called the Evangelical Union church. Their 
leading theologian was a Mr. Morrison, who presided over a 
theological school at Glasgow. I found Mr. Kirk an earnest 
man, and a great lover of revival work. This Evangelical 
Union, or E. U. church, as they called it, had grown out of 
a revival effort made in Scotland at the time of the first 
publication of my revival lectures in that country. A con- 
siderable number of Scotch ministers, and a much larger 
number of laymen, had been greatly stirred up, and had 
made many successful revival efforts ; but had expended 
their strength very much in controversy upon the hyper-cal- 
vinistic views maintained by the Scotch Presbyterians. 

I remained three months in Edinburgh, preaching 
mostly in Mr. Kirk's church, which was one of the largest 
places of worship in Edinburgh. We had a very interesting 
revival in that place, and many souls were converted. 
Church members were greatly blessed, and Mr. Kirk's hands 
were full, day and night, of labors among inquirers. But I 
soon found that he was surrounded by a wall of prejudice. 
The Presbyterian churches were strongly opposed to this B. 
U. branch of the church ; and I found myself hedged in, as 
it respected openings for labor in other churches. 



456 MEMOIES OP CHABLES G. FIffNEY. 

Mr. Kirk was at that time not only pastor, but also 
professor in a theological school at Glasgow, and in addi- 
tion, was editor of " the Christian News," which was pub- 
lished at Glasgow. In that paper, from time to time, he 
represented my theological views as identical with the views 
of their theological seminary and of their church. But on 
some points I found that I very considerably differed from 
them. Their views of faith as a mere intellectual state I 
could not receive. They explained away, in a manner to 
me utterly unintelligible, the doctrine of election ; and on 
sundry points I found I did not agree with them. How- 
ever Mr. Kirk insisted that he entirely accepted my views as 
he heard me preach them, and that they were the views of 
the E. U. church. Thus insisting that my views were 
identical with theirs, without intending it, he shut the doors 
of the other pulpits against me, and doubtless kept multi- 
tudes of persons who otherwise would have come and heard 
me, from our meetings. 

Mrs. Finney's labors in this place were greatly blessed. 
Mrs. Kirk, the wife of the pastor, was a very earnest Chris- 
tian lady ; and she took hold with my wife, with ail her 
might. They established a ladies' prayer-meeting, which is 
continued to this day, reports of which have been made 
from year to year in the Christian News ; and Mrs. Kirk 
has published a small volume, giving an account of 
the establishment and progress of that meeting. The 
answers to prayer that were vouchsafed there were wonder 
fill. Requests have been sent from various parts of Scot- 
land to them, to pray for various places, and persons, and 
objects. The history of that meeting has been one of 
uncommon encouragement. From that sprung up similai 
meetings in various parts of Scotland ; and these have put 
the women of Scotland very much in a new position, in 
regard to personal efforts in revivals of religion. 

After remaining in Edinburgh three months, and seeing 
there a blessed work of grace, we accepted an invitation to 



LA30S8 IX SCOTLAND. 457 

go to Aberdeen ; and in November we found ourselves in 
that city, which is near the northern extremity of Scotland. 
We were invited there by a Mr. Ferguson, also a minister 
of the E. U. church, and an intimate friend of Mr. Kirk. 
He had been very much irritated, and was at the time we 
arrived there, with the opposition that he met from the 
Presbyterian and Congregational churches. His congrega- 
tion was still more closely hedged in by prejudice than Mr. 
Kirk's. He was an earnest Christian man, but had been 
chafed exceedingly by the opposition which had enclosed 
him like a wall. At first I could not get a hearing except 
with his own people ; and I became a good deal discour- 
aged, and so did Brother Ferguson himself. 

At the time of this discouragement, Mr. Davison, a Con- 
gregational minister of Bolton, in Lancashire, wrote me a 
very pressing letter to come and labor with him. The state 
of things was so discouraging at Aberdeen that I gave him 
encouragement that I would go. But, in the meantime, the 
interest greatly increased in Aberdeen, and other ministers 
and churches began to feel the influence of what was going 
on there. The Congregational minister invited me to preach 
in his church for a Sabbath, which I did. A Mr. Brown, in 
one of the Presbyterian churches, also invited me to preach ; 
but, at the time, my hands were too full to accept his invita- 
tion, though I intended to preach for him at another time. 
Before this, I should have said, that the work in Mr. Fergu- 
son's congregation had begun, and was getting into a very 
mteresting state. Numbers had been converted, and a very 
nteresting change was manifestly coming over his congrega- 
tion and over that city. But in the meantime, I had so 
committed myself to go to Bolton that I found I must go ; 
and we left Aberdeen just before the Christmas holidays and 
went to Bolton. 

While I was with Mr. Ferguson at Aberdeen, I was urged 
by his son, who was settled over one of the E. TJ. churches 
\n Glasgow, to labor with him for a season. This had been 
20 



468 MEMOIBS OF CHAELES G. EliStfET. 

urged upon me before I left Edinburgh. But I was unwil- 
ling to continue my labors longer with that denomination. 
Not that they were not good men, and earnest workers for 
God; but their controversies had brought them into such 
relations to the surrounding churches, as to shut me oat 
from all sympathy and co-operation, except with those of 
dieir peculiar views. I had been accustomed, in this 
country, to labor freely with Presbyterians and Congrega- 
tionalists ; and I desired greatly to get a hearing among the 
Presbyterians and Congregationalists of Scotland. But in 
laboring with the E. U. churches, I found myself in a false 
position. What had been said in the Christian News, and 
the fact that T was laboring in that denomination, led to the 
inference that I agreed with them in their peculiar views, 
while in fact I did not. 

I thought it not my duty to continue any longer in this 
false position. I declined, therefore, to go to Glasgow. 
Although I regarded the brother who invited me, as one of 
the best of men, and his church as a godly, praying people ; 
yet there were other godly, praying people in Glasgow, and 
a great many more of them than could be found in the 
E. U. church. I felt uneasy, as being in a position to mis- 
represent myself. Although I had the strongest affection 
for those brethren, so far as I became acquainted with them ; 
yet I felt that in confining my labors to that denomination I 
was greatly restricting my own usefulness. We therefore 
left Aberdeen and went by rail to Bolton, where we arrived 
on Christmas Eve, 1859. 

Bolton is a city of about thirty thousand inhabitants 
lying a few miles from Manchester. It is in the heart 
of the great manufacturing district of England. It lies 
within the circle of that immense population, that spreads 
itself out from Manchester, as a centre, in every direction. 
It is estimated that at least three millions of people live 
within a compass of sixty miles around about Manchester. 

In this place the work of the Lord commenced immedi 



LABOES IK EKGLA2SD. *S9 



ately. We were received as guests by Mr. J B- 



He belonged to the Methodist denomination ; was a man oi 
sterling piety, very unsectarian in his views and feelings. 
The next evening after we arrived, he invited in a few 
tnends for religions conversation and prayer; and among 
them a lady, who had been for some time in an inquiring 
state of mind. After we had had a little conversation we 
concluded to have a season of prayer. My wife knelt near 
this lady of whom I have spoken, and during prayer she ob- 
served that she was much affected. As we rose from our 
knees, Mrs. Finney took her by the hand, and then beck- 
oned to me across the room to come and speak with her. 
The lady had been brought up, as I afterwards learned, a 
Quakeress ; but had married a man who was a Methodist. 
She had been for a long time uneasy about the state of her 
soul ; but had never been brought face to face with the 
question of present, instantaneous submission. 

I responded to the call of my wife, and went across the 
room and spoke with her. I saw in a moment that her dis- 
tress of mind was profound. ' I therefore asked her if she 
would see me a little time, for personal conversation. She 
readily complied, and we crossed the hall into another room ; 
and then I brought her face to face, at once, with the question 
of instant submission, and acceptance of Christ. I asked her 
if she would then and there renounce herself, and everything 
else, and give her heart to Christ. She replied, " I must do 
it sometime ; and I may as well do it now. " We knelt imme- 
diately down ; and so far as human knowledge can go, she did 
truly submit to God. After she had submitted we returned 
to the parlor ; and the scene between herself and her hus- 
band was very affecting. As soon as she came into the room 
he saw such a change manifested in her countenance, that 
they seemed spontaneously to clasp each other in their arms, 
and knelt down before the Lord. 

We were scarcely seated before the son of Mr. B 

came into the parlor, announcing that one of the servants 



460 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIXTKEI. 

was deeply moved. In a very short time that one also gave 
evidence of submission to Christ. Then I learned that 
another was weeping in the kitchen, and went immediately 
to her ; and after a little conversation and instruction, she 
too appeared to give her heart to God. Thus the woiJr 

had begun. Mrs. B herself had been in a doubting and 

discouraged state of mind for years ; and she, too, appeared 
to melt down, and get into a different state of mind almost 
immediately. The report of what the Lord was doing, was 
soon spread abroad ; and people came in daily, and almost 
hourly, for conversation. The first week of January had 
been appointed to be observed as a week of prayer, as it has 
been since from year to year ; and the different denomina- 
tions agreed to hold Union meetings during the week. 

Our first meeting was in the chapel occupied by Mr. 
Davison, who had sent for me to come to Bolton. He was 
an Independent, what we in this country call a Oongregation- 
alist. His chapel was filled the first night. The meeting 
was opened by a Methodist minister, who prayed with 
great fervency, and with a liberty that plainly indicated to 
me that the Spirit of God was upon the congregation, and 
that we should have a powerful meeting. I was invited to 
follow him with some remarks. I did so, and occupied a 
little space in speaking upon the subject of prayer. I tried 
to impress upon them as a fact, that prayer would be imme- 
diately answered, if they took the stumbling-blocks out of 
the way, and offered the prayer of faith. The word seemed 
to thrill through the hearts of Christians. Indeed I have 
eldom addressed congregations upon any subject that seemed 
o produce a more powerful and salutary effect, than the 
ubject of prayer. I find it so everywhere. Praying peo- 
ple are immediately stirred up by it, to lay hold of God for a 
blessing. They were in this place. That was a powerful 
meeting. 

Through the whole of that week the spirit of prayer 
geemed to be increasing, and our meetings had greater and 



LABORS IK ENGLAND. 461 

greater power. About the third or fourth day of our meet- 
mgs, I should think, it fell to the turn of a Mr. Best, also a 
Congregational minister at Bolton, to have the meeting in 
his chapel. There, for the first time, I called for inquirers. 
After addressing the congregation for some time, in a strain 
calculated to lead to that point, I called for inquirers, and 
his vestry was thronged with them. We had an impressive 
meeting with them ; and many of them, I trust, submitted 
to God. 

There was a temperance hall in the city, which would 
accommodate more people than any of the chapels. After 
this week of prayer, the brethren secured the hall for preach- 
ing ; and I "began to preach there twice on the Sabbath, and 
four evenings in the week. Soon the interest became verj 
general. The hall would be crowded every night, so thai 
not another person could get so much as within the door. 
The Spirit of God was poured out copiously. 

I then recommended to the brethren to canvass the whole 
city ; to go two and two, and visit every house ; and if per- 
mitted, to pray in every house in the city. They immediately 
and courageously rallied to perform this work. They got 
great numbers of bills, and tracts, and posters, and all sorts 
of invitations printed, and began the work of canvassing. 
The Congregationalists and Method >sts took hold of the work 
with great earnestness. 

The Methodists are very strong in Bolton, and always 
have been since the day of Wesley. It was one of Wesley's 
favorite fields of labor; and they have always had there an able 
ministry, and strong churches. Their influence was far in 
the ascendancy there, over all other religious denominations. 
I found among them both ministers and laymen, who were 
most excellent and earnest laborers for Christ. But the 
Congregationalists too entered into the work, with great 
spirit and energy ; and, while I remained there, at least, all 
sectarianism seemed to be buried. They gave the town a 
thorough canvassing ; and the canvassers met once or twice 



462 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES O. FINNEY. 

a week to make their reports, and to consider farther 
arrangements for pushing the work. It was very common 
to see a Methodist and a Congregationalist, hand in hand, 
and heart in heart, going from house to house, with tracts, 
and praying wherever they were permitted, in every house, 
an", warning men to flee from the wrath to come, and urging 
thtm tc come to Christ. 

Of course m such a state of things as this, the work 
would spread rapidly among the unconverted. All classes 
of persons, high and low, rich and poor, male and female, 
became interested. I was in the habit, every evening I 
preached, of calling upon inquirers to come forward and 
take seats in front of the stand. Great numbers would 
come forward, crowding as best they could through the 
dense masses that filled every nook and corner of the 
house. The hall was not only laige on its ground floor, but 
had a gallery, which was always thronged. After the 
inquirers had come forward, we engaged in a prayer-meet- 
ing, having several prayers in succession while the inquirers 
knelt before the Lord. 

The Methodist brethren were very much engaged, and 
for some time were quite noisy and demonstrative in their 
prayers, when sinners came forward. For some time I said 
nothing about this, lest I should throw them off and lead 
them to grieve the Spirit. I saw that their impression was, 
that the greater the excitement, the more rapidly would the 
work go forward. They therefore would pound the 
benches, pray exceedingly loud, and sometimes more than 
one at a time. I was aware that this distracted the in- 
quirers, and prevented their becoming truly converted ; and 
although the number of inquirers was great and constantly 
increasing, yet conversions did not multiply as fast as I had 
been in the habit of seeing them, even where the number of 
inquirers was much less. 

After letting things pass on so for two or three weeks, 
until the Methodist brethren had become acquainted with 



LABOBS IN ENGLAND. 463 

me, and I with them, one evening upon calling the in- 
quirers forward, I suggested that we should take a different 
course. I told them that I thought the inquirers needed 
more opportunity to think than they had when there was so 
much noise ; that they needed instruction, and needed to 
be led by one voice in prayer, and that there should not be- 
any confusion, or anything bordering on it, if we expected 
them to listen and become intelligently converted. I asked 
them if they would not try for a short time to follow my 
advice in that respect, and see what the result would be. 
They did so ; and at first I could see that they were a little 
in bondage when they attempted to pray, and a little dis- 
couraged, because it so crossed their ideas of what constituted 
powerful meetings. However they soon seemed to recover 
from this, because I think they were convinced that although 
there was less apparent excitement in our prayer-meet- 
ings, yet there were many more converted from evening 
to evening. 

The fame of this work spread abroad, and soon persons 
began to come in large numbers from Manchester to Bolton 
to attend our meetings ; and this, as was always the case, 
created a considerable excitement in that city, and a desire 
to have me come thither as soon as I could. However I 
remained in Bolton I think about three months, perhaps 
more. The work became so powerful that it broke in upon 
all classes, and every description of persons. 

Brother B had an extensive cotton mill in Boltou, 

and employed a great many hands, men and women. I went 
with him down to his mill once or twice, and held meetings 
with his operatives. The first time we went we had a pow- 
erful meeting. I remained with them till I was much 

fatigued, and then returned home, leaving Brother B 

still to pray with, and instruct them. When he came home 
he reported that not less than sixty appeared clearly to bo 
converted that evening, among his own hands. These meet 



464 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FIXtfEY. 

ings were continued till nearly all his hands expressed hope 
in Christ. 

There were a great many very striking cases of convic- 
tion and conversion at the time. Although I kept cool my- 
self, and endeavored to keep the people in an attitude in 
which they would listen to instruction, and would act 
understandingly in everything they did ; s + -ill in some in- 
stances, persons for a few days were too much excited for the 
healthy action of their minds, though I do not recollect any 
case of real insanity. 

One night as I was standing on the platform and preach- 
ing, a man in the congregation rose up and crowded his way 
up to the platform, and said to the congregation, " I have 
committed a robbery." He began to make a confession, 
interrupting me as I was preaching. I saw that he was 
over excited ; and brother Davison who sat on the platform 
stepped up and whispered to him, &.nd took him down into 
a side-room and conversed with him. He found that he had 
committed a crime for which he was liable to be transported. 
He gave him advice, and I heard no more of it that evening. 
Afterwards the facts came more fully to my knowledge. 
But in a few days the man obtained a hope. 

One evening I preached on confession and restitution, 
and it created a most tremendous movement among business 
men. One man told me the next day that he had been and 
made restitution, I think, of fifteen hundred pounds, in a 
case where he thought he had not acted upon the principle 
of loving his neighbor as himself. The consciences of men 
under such circumstances are exceedingly tender. The gen- 
tleman to whom I have just referred, told me that a dear 
friend of his had died and left him to settle his estate. He 
had done so, and simply received what the law gave him for 
his labor and expense. But he said that in hearing that 
sermon, it occurred to him that as a friend and a Christian 
brother, he could better afford to settle that estate without 
charging anything, than the family could afford to allow him 



LABORS IK ENGLAND. 465 

the legal fees. The Spirit of God that was upon him led 
Lim to feel it so keenly, that he immediately went and 
refunded the money. 

There was a case in Rochester, in New York, that I have 
forgotten to mention, but that may just as well be mentioned 
id this place, of the same kind. An extremely tender con- 
science led a man to see and feel keenly on the subject of 
acting on the principle of loving our neighbor as ourselves, 
and doing to others as we would that they should do to us. 
A man of considerable property was convened in one of the 
revivals in Rochester, in which I labored, who had been 
transacting some business for a widow lady, in a village not 
far distant from Rochester. The business consisted in the 
transfer of some real estate, for which he had been paid for 
his services some fifteen or sixteen hundred dollars. As 
soon as he was converted he thought of this case ; and upon 
reflection he thought he had not done by that widow lady and 
those fatherless children, as he would wish another to do by 
his widow and fatherless children, should he die. He there- 
fore went over to see her, and stated to her his view of the 
subject as it lay before his mind. She replied that she did 
not see it in that light at all ; that she had considered her- 
self very much obliged to him indeed, that he had transacted 
her business in such a way as to make for her all she could 
ask or expect. She declined, therefore, to receive the money 
which he offered to refund. 

After thinking of it a little he told her that he was dis- 
satisfied, and wished that she would call in some of her most 
trustworthy neighbors, and they would state the question to 
them. She did so, called in some Christian friends, men of 
business ; and they laid the whole matter before them. They 
said that the affair was a business transaction, and it was 
evident that he had transacted the business to the acceptance 
of the family and to their advantage ; and they saw no rea- 
son why he should refund the money. He heard what they 
had to say ; but before he left the town he called on the lady 
20* 



4*>6 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

agaiii and said, " My mind is not at ease. If I should die 
and leave my wife a widow and children fatherless, and a 
friend of mine should transact such a piece of business for 
them, I should feel as if he might do it gratuitously, inas- 
much as it was for a widow and fatherless children. " Said he, 
" I cannot take any other view of it than this." Whereupon 
he laid the money upon her table, and left. 

Another case occurs to me now, which illustrates the 
manner in which the Spirit of God will work in the minds 
of men, when their hearts are open to his influence. In 
preaching in one of the large cities on a certain occasion, 
I was dwelling upon the dishonesties of business, and the 
over-reaching plans of men ; and how they justify them- 
selves in violations of the golden rule. Before I was through 
with my discourse, a gentleman arose in the middle of the 
house and asked me if he might propose a question. He 
then supposed a case ; and after he had stated it, asked me 
if that case would come under the rule that I had propounded, 
I said, "Yes, I think that it clearly would." He sat down 
and said no more ; but I afterwards learned that he went 
away and made restitution to the amount of thirty thousand 
dollars. I could relate great numbers of instances in which 
persons have been led to act in the same manner, under the 
powerfully searching influences of the Spirit of God. 

But to return from this digression ; the work went on 
and spread in Bolton until one of the ministers who had been 
engaged in directing the movement of canvassing the town, 
said publicly that they found that the revival had reached 
every family in the city ; and that every family had betn 
visited. 

If we had had any place of worship large enough, we 
should probably have had ten thousand persons in the con- 
gregations from evening to evening. All we could do was 
to fill the hall as full as it could be crowded, and then use 
such other means as we could to reach the multitudes in 
other places of worship. 



LABOBS D* EtfGLAtfB. 467 

I recollect a striking case of conversion among the great 
mill-owners there. I had been told of one of them that was 
a very miserly man. He had a great thirst for riches, 
and had been spoken of as being a very hopeless case. The 
revival had reached a large number of that class of men ; 
but this man had seemed to stand out, and his worldly - 
mindedness and his miserly spirit had seemed to eat him up. 
But contrary to my expectations, and to the expectations of 
others, he in his turn called on me. I invited him to my 
room, and had a very serious conversation with him. He 
acknowledged to me that he had been a great miser ; and 
that he had once said to God, that if he would give him 
another hundred thousand pounds, he would be willing to 
be eternally damned. I was very much shocked at this ; 
but could see clearly that he was terribly convicted of the 
sinfulness of that state of mind. 

I then repeated to him a part of the sixth chapter of 
Matthew, where Christ warns men against laying up treasure 
on earth, and recommends them to lay up treasure in heaven. 
I finally came to that verse : " But seek first the kingdom of 
God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added 
unto you." He leaned toward me, and appeared to be as 
much interested as if it were all new to him. When I 
repeated to him this verse, he said to me, with the utmost 
earnestness, "Do you believe that?" I said, "Be sure I 
believe it. It is the word of God." "Well then," said he, 
" I'll go it ; " and sprang upon his feet in the utmost excite- 
ment. " If that is true," said he, "I will give up all to 
Christ at once." We knelt immediately down, and I pre- 
sented his case to God in prayer ; and he seemed to break 
down like a child. Prom that time he appeared to be a very 
difEerent man. His miserly feelings all seemed to melt 
away. He took hold of that work like a man in earnest, 
and went and hired, at his own cost, a city missionary, and 
set biTTi to work to win souls to Christ. 

At this place, also, Mrs. Finney's meetings were yery 



468 MEMOIBS OF CHABLES G. FINNEY. 

largely attended. She held them, as she always did, in the 
daytime ; and sometimes I was informed that at her meeting 
of ladies, Temperance Hall would be nearly full. The 
Christian ladies of different denominations took hold with 
her and encouraged her ; and great good, I trust, was done 
through the instrumentality of those ladies' meetings. 

My wife and myself were both of us a good deal exhausted 
by these labors. But in April we went to Manchester. In 
Manchester the Congregational interest, as I was informed, 
rather predominates over that of other denominations. As 
is well-known, the manufacturing districts have a stronger 
democratic element than other parts of England. Congre- 
gationalism, therefore, is more prevalent in Manchester than 
in any other city that I visited. I had not been long there, 
however, before I saw that there was a great lack of mutual 
confidence among the brethren. I could see that there was 
a jar among the leaders ; and frequently, to my grief, I 
heard expressions that indicated a want of real heart-union 
in the work. This I was soon convinced was a great diffi- 
culty to be overcome ; and that if it could not be overcome, 
the work could never be as general there as it had been in 
Bolton. There soon was manifest a dissatisfaction with 
some of the men who had been selected to engineer the work, 
and provide for carrying on the general movement. 

This grieved the Spirit and crippled the work. And 
although from the very first the Spirit of God attended the 
word ; yet the work never so thoroughly overcame the secta- 
rian feeling and disagreements of the brethren generally, that 
it could spread over the city in the way it had done at Bolton. 
When I went to that city I expected that the Methodist and 
Congregational brethren would work harmoniously together, 
as they had at Bolton ; but in this I found myself mistaken. 
Not only was there a want of cordiality and sympathy 
between the Methodists and Congregationalists ; but also a 
great lack of confidence and sympathy among the Congrega- 
tionalists themselves. However, our meetings were very 



LAJBOBS Iff ENGLAND. 469 

interesting, and great numbers of inquirers were found on 
every side ; and whenever a meeting was appointed for 
inquirers, large numbers would attend. Still what I longed 
to see was a general overflowing of the Spirit's influences in 
Manchester, as we had witnessed in Bolton. The difficulty 
was, there was not a good spirit manifested at that time, by 
the leading men in the movement. I did not learn the 
cause — perhaps it was something in myself. But although 
I am sure that large numbers of persons were converted, for 
I saw and conversed with a great number myself that were 
powerfully convicted, and to all appearance converted ; yet 
the barriers did not break down so as to give the word of the 
Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord, free course among the 
people. 

When we came away, a meeting was called for those who 
had been particularly blessed during those meetings ; and 
the number in attendance was, I believe, very much larger 
than was expected by the ministers themselves. I am confi- 
dent that they were surprised at the numbers present, and 
at the spirit of the meeting. Indeed I do not think that 
any of the ministers there were aware of the extent of the 
work, for they did not generally attend our meetings. They 
did not follow them from place to place, and were seldom 
Been in the meetings of inquiry. We continued in Man- 
chester till about the first of August; and the revival 
continued to increase and spread up to that time. 

But the strength of both myself and my wife had become 
exhausted, and some of the leading brethren proposed to us 
to suspend our labors, and go down into Wales and rest a 
lew weeks, and then return to Manchester and resume our 
labors. What they proposed was, to secure a large hall, and 
thus to go on with our meetings in an independent way. 
They thought, and I thought myself, that we should secure 
a greater amount of good in that way than by laboring with 
any particular congregation. Denominational lines are 
much more strongly marked in that country than they are 



470 MEMOIRS OB" OHAELES G. PIHITJBT. 

in this. It is very difficult to get people of the church of 
England to attend a dissenting place of worship. The 
Methodists will not generally and freely attend worship with 
other denominations. Indeed, the same is true of all de- 
nominations in England, and in Scotland. Sectarian lines 
are much more distinctly drawn, and the members of the 
different churches keep more closely within their lines, than 
in this country. I am persuaded that the true way to labor 
for a revival movement there, is to have no particular con- 
nection with any distinct denomination ; but to preach the 
true gospel, and make a stand in halls, or even in streets, 
when the weather is favorable, where no denominational feel- 
ings and peculiarities can straiten the influences of the 
Spirit of God. 

On the second of August, 1860, we left Manchester and 
went down to Liverpool. A goodly number of our friends 
went down with us, and remained over night. On the 
morning of the third, we left in the Persia for New York. 
We found that large numbers of our friends had assembled 
from different parts of England, to bid us good-bye. We 
took an affectionate and an affecting leave of them, and the 
glorious old steamer rushed out to sea, and we were on our 
way home. 



OHAPTEE XXXVL 

WOEK AT HOME. 

TTTB had had very little rest in England for a year and 
VV a half ; and those who are used to sea voyages will 
not wonder that I did not rest much during our voyage 
home. Indeed we arrived a good deal exhausted. I was 
myself hardly able to preach at all. However the state of 
things was such, and the time of year such, that I could not, 
as I supposed, afford to rest. There were many new stu- 
dents here, and strangers had been moving into the place ; 
so that there was a large number of impenitent persons 
residing here at that time. The brethren were of opinion 
that an effort must be made immediately to revive religion 
in the churches, and to secure the conversion of the uncon- 
verted students. During my absence in England the con- 
gregation had become so large that the house could not, 
with any comfort, contain them ; and after considering the 
matter, the church concluded to divide and form a second 
Congregational church. They did so ; the new church 
worshipping in the College chapel, and the First church 
continuing to occupy their usual place of worship. The 
Second church invited me to preach a part of the time to 
them, in the College chapel. But that would hold scarcelj 
more than half as many as the church ; and I could not 
think it my duty to divide my labors, and preach part of 
the time to one congregation and part of the time to the 
other ; and therefore took measures immediately to secure a 
revival of religion, holding our meetings at the large church. 
The Second church people came in, and labored as best they 
could ; but the preaching devolved almost altogether upon 
myiell 



472 MEMOIBS OP OHABLES G. PLfftfEY. 

We held daily prayer-meetings in the church, which 
were largely attended. The body of the church would 
generally be full. At these meetings I labored hard, to 
secure the legitimate results of a prayer-meeting judiciously 
managed. Besides preaching twice on Sabbath, and hold- 
ing a meeting of inquiry in the evening of every Sabbath, I 
preached several evenings during the week. In addition to 
these labors I was obliged to use up my strength in convers- 
ing with inquirers, who were almost constantly visiting me 
when I was out of meeting. These labors increased in 
intensity and pressure, from week to week. The revival 
became very general throughout the place, and seemed to 
bid fair to make a clean sweep of the unconverted in the 
place. But after continuing these labors for four months, 
until I had very little rest day or night, I came home one 
Sabbath afternoon, from one of the most powerful and 
interesting meetings I ever witnessed, and was taken with a 
severe chill ; and from that time I was confined to my bed 
between two and three months. 

It was found in this case, as it always has been so far as 
my experience has gone, that the change of preaching soon 
let down the tone of the revival ; and not suddenly, but 
gradually it ceased. There was not, that I am aware of, any 
reaction. But the conversions grew less frequent, and from 
week to week, the week-day meetings gradually fell off in their 
attendance ; so that by the time I was able to preach again, 
I found the state of religion interesting, but not what we 
here call a revival of religion. However, the next summer, 
as has been almost universally the oase, a goodly number of 
our students were converted, and there was a very interesting 
state of religion during the season. 

During the summer months there is a great pressure upon 
the people here. The students are engaged in preparing for 
the anniversaries of their various college societies, for their 
examinations, and for commencement ; and of course during 
the summer term there is a great deal of excitement unfa* 



WORK AT HOMK. 4?3 

yorable to the progress of a revival of religion. We have 
much more of this excitement in later years than we had 
when we first commenced here. College societies have 
increased in number, and the class exhibitions and other 
interesting occasions have been multiplied ; so that it has 
become more and more difficult to secure a powerful revival 
during the summer term. This ought not to be. 

Before I went to England the last time, I saw that an 
impression seemed to be growing in Oberlin, that during 
term time we could not expect to have a revival ; and that 
our revivals must be expected to occur during the long va- 
cations in the winter. This was not deliberately avowed by 
any one ; and yet it was plain that that was coming to be 
the impression. But I had come to Oberlin, and resided 
here, for the sake of the students, to secure their con- 
version and sanctification ; and it was only because there was 
so great a number of them here, which gave me so good an 
opportunity to work upon so many young minds in the pro- 
cess of education, that I had remained here from year to 
year. I had, frequently, almost made up my mind to leave, 
and give myself wholly to the work of an evangelist. But the 
plea always used with me had been, that we could not do so 
much in this country in promoting revivals anywhere, except 
at that season of the year when we have our long vacation ; 
furthermore, that my health would not enable me to sustain 
revival labor the year round ; and that, therefore, I could 
do more good here during the term time — that is, in the 
spring, summer, and early autumn — than I could anywhere 
else. This I myself believed to be true ; and therefore had 
continued to labor here during term time, for many years 
after my heart strongly urged me to give up my whole time 
in laboring as an evangelist. 

While I was last in England, and was receiving urgent 
letters to return, I spoke of the impression to which I have 
alluded, that we could not expect revivals in term time ; and 
said, that if that was going to be the prevalent idea, it waa 



474 MEMOIBS OF OHABLES G. PI2J2JET. 

not the place for me ; for during our long vacaticn our stu 
dents were gone, of course, and it was for their salvation 
principally that I remained. I had been greatly afflicted 
too, by finding, when an effort was made to secure the con- 
version of the students during term time, that the first I 
wmild know some excursion would be planned, some amuse- 
ment or entertainment that would counteract all that we 
could do to secure the conversion of the students. I never 
supposed that that was the design ; but such was the result, 
insomuch that previous to going to England the last time, 
I had become almost discouraged in making efforts to secure 
revivals of religion during term time. In my replies to 
letters received while I was in England, I was very free 
and full upon this point, in saying that, unless there 
could be a change, Oberlin was not my field of labor any 
longer. 

Our fall term is properly our harvest here. It begins 
about the first of September, when we have a large number 
of new students, and many of these unconverted ones. I 
have always felt, as a good many others have, and I believe 
the faculty generally, that during that term was the time 
to secure the conversion of our new students. This was 
secured to a very great extent, the year that we returned. 
The idea that during term time we could not expect a revi- 
val of religion, seemed to be exploded, the people took hold 
of the work and we had a powerful revival. 

Siuce then we have been much less hindered in our revi- 
val efforts in term time, by counteracting influences, than we 
had been for a few years before. Our revival efforts have 
taken effect among the students from year to year, because 
they were aimed to secure the conversion especially of the 
students. Our general population -is a changing one, and 
we very frequently need a sweeping revival through the 
whole town, among the house-holders as well as the stu- 
dents, to keep up a healthy tone of piety. A goodly nnm- 



WOEK AT HOME. 475 

ber of our students learn to work themselves in promoting 
revivals, ar 1 are very efficient in laboring for the conversion 
of their fellow-students. The young men's prayer-meetings 
have been greatly blessed. The young people's meetings, 
where all meet for a general prayer-meeting, have also 
been blessed. The efforts of brethren and sisters in the 
church, have been increasingly blessed from year to year. 
"We have had more or less of a revival continually, summer 
and winter. 

Since 1860, although continually pressed by churches, 
East and West, to come and labor as an evangelist, I have not 
dared to comply with their request. I have been able, by 
the blessing of God, to perform a good deal of labor here ; 
but I have felt inadequate to the exposure and labor of 
attempting to secure revivals abroad. 

Last winter, 1866 and '67, the revival was more powerful 
among the inhabitants than it had been since 1860. How- 
ever, as heretofore, I broke down in the midst, and was una- 
ble to attend any more meetings. The brethren, however, 
went forward with the work, and it continued with great 
interest until spring. Thus I have brought my revival 
narrative down to this time, the 13th of January, 1868. 
Yesterday, Sabbath, we had a very solemn day in the First 
church. I preached all day upon resisting the Holy Ghost. 
At the close of the afternoon service I called first, upon all 
professors of religion who were willing to commit themselves 
against all resistance offered to the teachings of the Holy 
Spirit, to rise up and unite with us in prayer, under the 
solemnity of this promise. Nearly all the professors of 
religion rose up without hesitation. I then called upon 
those that were not converted to rise up, and take the same 
stand. I had been endeavoring to show that they were stiff- 
necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, and had always 
resisted the Holy Ghost. I asked those of them who were 
willing to pledge themselves to do this no more, and to 
%ccept the teachings of the Holy Spirit and give themselvet 



476 MEMOIRS OF CHARLES G. FINNEY. 

to Christ, also to rise up, and we would make them subjecti 
of prayer. So far as I could see from the pulpit, nearly 
every person in the house stood up under these calls. We 
then had a very solemn season of prayer, and dismissed the 
meeting. 



CONCLUSION. 



THOSE who have read the preceding pages, will naturally 
inquire in reference to the closing years of a life so full 
of labor and of usefulness. The narrative, completed with 
the beginning of 1868, leaves Mr. Finney still pastor of the 
First church in Oberlin, and lecturer in the seminary. The 
responsibilities of pastor he continued to sustain, with the 
help of his associate, some four or five years longer, preach- 
ing, as his health would admit, usually once each Sabbath. 
At the same time, as professor of Pastoral Theology, he 
gave a course of lectures each summer term, on the pastoral 
work, on Christian experience, or on revivals. He resigned 
the pastorate in 1872, but still retained his connection with 
the seminary, and completed his last course of lectures in 
July 1875, only a few days before his death. He preached, 
from time to time, as his strength permitted ; and during 
the last month of his life, he preached one Sabbath morning 
in the First church, and another in the Second. 

Notwithstanding the abundant and exhausting labors of 
his long public life, the burden of years seemed to rest 
lightly upon him. He still stood erect, as a young man, 
retained his faculties to a remarkable degree, and exhibited 
to the end the quickness of thought, and feeling, and im- 
agination, which always characterized him. His life and 
character perhaps never seemed richer in the fruits and the 
beauty of goodness, than in these closing years and months. 
His public labors were of course very limited, bat the quiet 



CONCLUSION. 47? 

power of his life was felt as a benediction upon the commu- 
nity, which, during forty years, he had done so much to 
guide and mold and bless. 

His last day on earth was a quiet Sabbath, which he 
enjoyed in the midst of his family, walking out with hia 
wife at sunset, to listen to the music, at the opening of the 
evening service in the church near by. Upon retiring he 
was seized with pains which seemed to indicate some affec- 
tion of the heart ; and after a few hours of suffering, as the 
morning dawned, he died, August 16th, 1875, lacking two 
weeks of haying completed his eighty-third year. 

The foregoing narrative gives him chiefly in one line of 
his work, and one view of his character. It presents him 
in the ruling purpose, and even passion of his life, as an 
evangelist, a preacher of righteousness. His work as a 
theologian, a leader of thought, in the development and 
expression of a true Christian philosophy, and as an instruc- 
tor, in quickening and forming the thought of others, has 
been less conspicuous, and in his own view doubtless entirely 
subordinate ; but in the view of many, scarcely less fruitful 
of good to the church and the world. To set forth the 
results of his life in these respects, would require another 
volume, which will probably never be written ; but other 
generations will reap the benefits, without knowing the 
gonrce whence they have sprung. 



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